The Rumour
by omi1
Summary: There’s a rumour going around about Seigaku’s buchou… (COMPLETED!)
1. Extreme Punishment

**The Rumour**

Chapter One: Extreme Punishment

"Eiji, Momoshiro, Echizen! Twenty laps for disturbing everyone's practice." 

"What?!" yelped Momoshiro, releasing Ryoma from the headlock he's gotten the first year in shock. "But Buchou!" the spikey head player spluttered. Ryoma simply kept quiet, adjusted his cap and started to run, leaving his two senpais behind. 

"Noooo fair!!! We weren't doing anything!" protested Eiji. "We were just playing with Ochibi –"

"Thirty laps." 

"Argh!" Eiji and Momoshiro began to run. Ryoma was already more than a quarter-way of the court ahead of them. 

"Oi, Ochibi, wait up for us!"

Inui studied the frown on their buchou's face from the safety of the other side of the court and made another notation in his notebook under Tezuka's entry. This was getting to be a little worrying. At the rate he's going, their Buchou has handed out 38% more punishments than usual and is looking to hit 40% within this practice alone. 

Tezuka has always been scrupulously fair about stuff like this, which made this sudden increase a little out of the ordinary. In fact, it's gotten so that he's taken to his data collection activities with a lot more caution than usual. It wasn't that Tezuka is just handing out punishments without justification, but rather that things that the buchou normally let ride– like a little rambunctious horseplay between the three regulars now running laps – were now rigorously enforced with laps. 

The object of his study was now striding towards the courts where the non-regular team members were practicing, causing a wave of quiet in his wake. 

"Hey Inui!" 

Ah, that was the tensai prodigy, back from his own twenty laps around the court, with his perpetual smile still intact despite the sheen of perspiration on his face. Inui flipped to his Fuji entries in his notebook and made a small notation. No change in breathing, despite a full practice and twenty laps with leg weights. Also, there's a 76% probability that Fuji is pissed, despite his smile. He would have given better odds, except this was _Fuji they were talking about. He was, however, one hundred percent sure about what Fuji wanted to talk to him about and was ready to answer. _

"Say, have you noticed anything different about our buchou recently?" Fuji asked semi-casually, wiping away his sweat with a towel. 

Bingo. Inui adjusted his glasses, a tiny smile lurking at the corner of his lips. He flipped back to his notebook and looked down at the notes he didn't really need to consult. 

"Buchou has handed out 38% more punishments to the team since his return to recovery. Also, he's spending about 40% more time on the non-regular members' training than usual. He's also asked me to prepare more of my special juices for the non-regulars as well," Inui looked up, glasses glinting in the light. 

"If I really have to make a guess, I'd say that the reason for buchou's sudden strictness stems from his meeting with Ryuzaki-sensei and Oishi two weeks ago." 

"Ryuzaki-sensei and Oishi, huh?" The smile dropped off Fuji's face momentarily as he gazed at the tall slender form of his buchou. He turned back to Inui, "Do you know where –" Fuji broke off and followed Inui's pointing finger to find Oishi standing in Court B overseeing the match between Kaido and Kawamura. 

"Thanks!" Fuji smiled brilliantly. "And say, leave me a portion of the juice you're making for the non-regulars, okay?"

"No problem," replied Inui, adjusting his glasses. "Of course, you _would_ tell me what is going on after you find out, right?" 

"Sure," agreed Fuji, as he started walking towards the vice captain with a rather ominous air about him.  

Things are going to get very interesting, very soon. That's one of the best things about playing tennis in Seigaku, thought the data collection specialist returning to his notebook. There's never a dull day with team members like this. 

Oishi was studying the match between Kaido and Kawamura. The two players were closely matched, with Kawamura's strength and stamina pitched against Kaido's indefatigable spirit. The vice captain watched quietly as Kawamura fired off another successful Burning attack that has Kaido hissing in exasperation and made a mental note to talk to Inui about expanding Kaido's range of training. The Snake and Boomerang Snake were great scoring moves, but both Ryuzaki-sensei and Tezuka had agreed that Kaido needed more work to be a more all-rounded player. 

Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a cheerful voice. "Oishi, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" Fuji asked with his usual smile plastered on his face. Oishi glanced back at the match before him. "Er, sure. Just five minutes, all right?" 

"That's fine. I just wanted to ask you if everything is all right. Tezuka seems a little stressed these days." 

"Oh, that. Yeah… The coach called us in a couple of weeks ago for a discussion about next year's team. You know how most of our regulars are all third year students right…" 

~ _Flashback ~_

"… With just one more term before graduation, that leaves us very little time to fix up the next cadre of regular players," Ryuzaki-sensei said heavily. "Frankly, I'm getting very worried about this. The posts for captaincy and vice captaincy would go to Momoshiro and Kaido of course, that goes without saying. But we could hardly just play with three regular players. I've been looking through the non-regular lists to find possible replacements for the members we'll be losing.

"Tezuka, I need you to concentrate on developing some of the more promising players. Talk to Inui about working out a special training programme for those you've identified. Oishi, I'll need you to oversees the regular members' training. You know the drill," concluded the Seigaku coach. 

"Yes Ryuzaki sensei," the two boys chorused. 

"Tezuka, I know you wanted to concentrate on Echizen's training, but –"

"It's all right sensei. I understand," said Tezuka quietly. "This is our last chance to put together a team that will continue to take Seigaku to the finals. We will do what we have to." 

~ _End Flashback ~_

"Since that meeting, Tezuka's been working on identifying possible regulars from the existing club members," ended Oishi. 

"I see, no wonder our buchou is in such a bad mood these days, if he has to bootstrap people into the regulars' slots." Fuji mused, tapping his racket to the side of his leg. "Hmm, hmm, hmm. Hey, I think I've just gotten a great idea to help our team improve," the tensai smiled angelically. 

Oishi shuddered. Somehow, there was something very scary about Fuji's smile. "Er, Fuji. It's okay really. I mean, I'm sure Ryuzaki sensei and Tezuka will come up with something soon."

"Nonsense! It's everyone's responsibility to make sure that Seigaku stays one of the top tennis schools, right, Oishi?" Fuji continued to smile sweetly. "In fact, all they need is a little more incentive to spur them on, and I've got just the thing for it." Still smiling, the tensai walked away happily. 

Oishi's heart sank. He had a really terrible feeling about this. "Should I warn Tezuka that Fuji's got a plan?" the vice-captain wondered out loud. 


	2. The Fun Begins!

**The Rumour**

Chapter Two: The Fun Begins!

The feeling that something bad is going to happen dogged Oishi throughout classes. The normally conscientious student couldn't concentrate at all during class, thinking about Fuji's promised plan, and was reprimanded by his teachers at least twice that day. Fuji was seldom destructive the way Eiji or Momoshiro are when they get hyper or mischievous, but when the tensai got it into his head to do something, students and teachers alike tend to get out of his way. His mind kept running through all the possible 'plans' that Fuji could have in store for the tennis club. Fuji's plans tended to be – ah, spectacular, to say the least. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, class ended, and Oishi bolted for the door.  

He was stopped by a light touch on his arm. "Ah, Tezuka!"

The taller boy looked at him with his clear grey eyes, saying nothing. Oishi understood. He and Tezuka have been best friends since their first year at Seigaku. He knew without saying that Tezuka was concerned about him… He just wasn't good at showing his feelings.  "I'm okay, really. Let's just go to practice okay?" Oishi managed to say with a smile. 

For a moment, he thought Tezuka would have said something more, but Eiji joined them in the hallway with his usual contagious enthusiasm, hurrying them towards tennis practice, and the moment was lost. 

The day's practice was relatively uneventful, at least for Oishi's portion of it. He couldn't help noticing Fuji a lot more than usual, but the tensai seemed very much his old smiling self, at ease and joking with everyone like normal. _Maybe __Fuji__ forgot about his plan, thought Oishi hopefully. After all, practice was almost over and nothing's happened so far. But just in case, Oishi thought maybe he'd go over to Tezuka and see how he's doing. Just in case. Oishi swallowed and crossed his fingers. _

"Hey Tezuka, how's everything going?" 

"Nn," Tezuka glared at the first and second year students practicing in the courts before him. "Something weird's gotten into all the non regular players today. No concentration at all, and they keep looking at me and giggling. _Giggling!" The tennis buchou spotted another small gaggle of boys huddled together whispering at the net, and shouted out, "Ikeda! You lot, twenty laps for talking in practice!" _

"Hai Buchou!" Ikeda and his friends dashed off to begin their laps, stealing little glances at Tezuka as they passed the tall captain and vice captain. 

"Oishi," said Tezuka. "Do you know what's going on with them today?" It was a valid question. Oishi was the recognised 'mother hen' plus arbitrator of disputes and trouble-shooter of problems in the entire tennis club. 

Oishi blanched. _Fuji__ did do it after all. But what exactly did he do? The sharp-eyed buchou narrowed his eyes. "You know something," he stated flatly. _

"Ah…" Oishi tried to prevaricate and was saved by the bell. "Tezuka, watch out behind you!"

"What?" Tezuka turned and promptly stumbled over a first year student. The contents of the glass the student was holding splashed out and landed all over Tezuka. "What the --?" 

The young boy looked up in horror. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Buchou!" The young first year was bowing so low, his head practically touched his knee. "Inui-senpai is making all of us drink his juice. I was just trying to run away to get rid of it before he sees me! I didn't mean to spill it on you! I'm sorry!" 

_We don't blame you, Tezuka and Oishi both thought simultaneously with a pang as the smell of the spilt juice hit their noses. "Ah, it's all right. Just… go ahead with whatever you're doing," said Tezuka faintly, as he tried not to breath in the noxious juice fumes. _

"Yes, Buchou! Sorry, Buchou!" The young player ran away as fast as he could.  

Tezuka grimaced and plucked the soaking shirt away from his body, nostrils flaring in protest. "Look Oishi, I'm going to take a shower. Help me end the practice? We'll talk again later."

"Sure, I'll finish up here. You go ahead," Oishi agreed with relief. He needed to find Fuji to stop whatever it is he's doing – and fast. 

Oishi was about to head back to courts A where the regulars are practicing when he was stopped by another non-regular player. The boy was obviously the chosen representative of the delegation that was standing just a couple of feet behind him. "Yes, what is it, er, Nagayama-kun, isn't it?"

"Oishi-senpai, we were wondering if we could ask you to confirm something…"

"Sure, what is it?" asked Oishi patiently. This seems like a pretty important deal to the boys. 

Nagayama looked back desperately at his friends behind him for support. After a couple of hissed, "Go on!" "Ask Oishi-senpai!" the second year player took a deep breath and finally spoke. "There's a rumour going around that you'll get to date Tezuka-senpai if you manage to beat a regular in a match," the boy blurted out quickly.  

Oishi felt as if he'd just gotten hit with a big heavy hammer. "Wha – What?! Where did you hear --? Who told you that?" he choked out through his shock. He could feel a wave of red creeping up from his neck. _Date Tezuka? _

The second year student blushed. "Well, we heard it from Arai, who said he heard it from Takeshiro, and _he_ said he and a whole bunch of people heard it from Fuji-senpai… They say if we manage to beat any of the regulars in a match, we will…" the boy blushed harder at this point. "… Will get to spend a whole night with Tezuka-senpai. We were just wondering… I mean, we couldn't tell if he was serious or just joking." The student looked up earnestly at Oishi. "Really for one whole night, senpai?" He asked hopefully. 

_Oh my god. My head hurts. Oishi thought. _He says it like he wants it to be true. Fuji, Fuji, I am – no, *Tezuka* is going to kill you for this. And maybe he'll even let me help him._ Oishi was about to explain to the poor student that no, the rumour is not true, that Fuji senpai was just joking, ha ha, when suddenly, a deep voice broke in. "Come on, Nagayama-kun. You don't have anytime to waste if you want to improve enough to beat a regular. And now you have a really good reason to want to beat us, right? Hurry up and go practice." _

"Yes Inui-senpai! Thank you!" Nagayama ran off, shouting to his waiting friends, "Hey guys, Oishi-senpai says it's true!" 

"Wait a minute! Hey! Wait! I didn't say anything!" protested Oishi weakly. 

Inui clasped a big warm arm around Oishi's shoulders and gently steered him towards the clubhouse and changing room. "It's okay, Oishi. Why don't you come along with me and we could discuss this further."

Oishi was practically shivering with shock as he followed Inui into the changing room. The boys stopped just inside the door. "Inui! We can't let those boys think that they could…" He stopped and gulped for fresh air before continuing. "Think that they could… beat a regular player and then date Tezuka."

"Who's dating Tezuka?" came a new voice from the door. "Neh, Oishi, who's dating our buchou? Tell me! Tell me!" asked the irrepressible Eiji, followed closely by Fuji and the rest of the Seigaku Regulars. 

"Buchou's got a date? I thought Buchou has no life outside tennis," commented Momoshiro. 

"Hssss…." 

Oishi fastened his stare at Fuji and lurched towards the shorter boy. "You! It's your fault! Nagayama said he heard it from you! Tezuka is going to freak when he finds out!" 

"No, he won't," said Fuji calmly with a small twinkle in his eyes. 

"Huh, what's going on," asked the totally clueless Kawamura. 

"Ask him!" shouted Oishi. 

"Now, now, you really must calm down, Oishi-kun," smiled Fuji. "It's just a little rumour that I started to give the non-regular players an incentive to work harder." 

"HOW?" screamed Oishi. "BY TELLING THEM THEY'LL GET TO SPEND A WHOLE NIGHT WITH TEZUKA IF THEY BEAT ANY ONE OF US REGULARS?!"

A resounding silence descended upon the small changing room as Oishi's words penetrated through the brain of all the players. 

Eiji was the first to break the silence. "Oh Syusuke, you didn't!" he breathed in equal parts horror and awe, staring at his blue-eyed friend. 

Fuji smiled and nodded. "I did."

"But, but…" stuttered Momoshiro, "Shit, Fuji-senpai. Buchou is going to kill you." 

"I don't think he will, Momo-kun. After all, I only did it for the good of next year's Seigaku Regulars, right Inui?"

"There is a 94% probability that the news would spur on the non regular players to work a lot harder than they are now. After all, boys our age are all pretty hormonally driven. The promise of a sexual fulfilment as a reward would be just the thing to push them to work harder. For some strange reason, the use of my new Special Inui Super Juice is only 63% effective. It just isn't working to help them as much as I thought it would."

"Well, that's no surprise," muttered Kaido. Ryoma and Momoshiro could only nod in agreement with Kaido. 

"Yeah, but did you have to use Tezuka as bait?" asked Oishi wearily. "Also, sexual fulfilment? Tezuka is a guy!" 

"But I had to," replied Fuji angelically. The rest of the regulars could have sworn they saw a tiny sparkling halo blink into existence around Fuji's head. "After all," the pretty third year student smiled sweetly, "Tezuka is the mostly highly admired and respected and worshipped buchou Seigaku has ever had. He's also got one of the loveliest pair of eyes, and such a wonderfully taunt, tanned body… and his lips…" Fuji sighed for a moment, then coloured prettily. "Anyway, he's the perfect choice for this kind of thing. I'd use myself as bait if necessary, but for some strange reason, quite a lot of people seem scared of me. Of course, they're pretty frightened of Tezuka too, but he has this aura that enables people to trust him completely at the same time," Fuji concluded with a soft laugh. 

"Besides, Tezuka will never be called on to fulfil the, ah, promised date, because no small, little, insignificant non-regular player is going to beat one of us for a night with Tezuka. Right, minna?" Fuji asked with a terrible gleam in his eyes. The halo popped out of existence immediately, only to be replaced by tiny perfect horns. 

Practically everyone gulped. "Er, sure, Fuji."  
Oishi looked at the members around him. "I don't know. I still don't think we should let this kind of rumours continue around Tezuka. I mean, I'm pretty sure something horrible will happen."

"Oh come on, Oishi –," started Fuji, when he was suddenly interrupted by Ryoma who was staring out the door, looking at the courts. 

"Ch, just decide already. All the other players are still out there practicing." 

"What?" Oishi, and the rest of the regulars made their way out to stare at the courts. True enough, the courts were still filled with excited, hormonally charged first and second year players whacking the heck out of the tennis balls. "Whoa. They are really working hard today." 

"See, Oishi. My plan worked!" 

Oishi said slowly, still staring out at the hordes of players. "I think… I'm going to regret this." 


	3. The Regulars Version

**The Rumour**

Chapter Three: The Regulars Version!

Fuji Syusuke smiled happily to himself. Everything has worked out according to plan. The reaction of the non-regular players to his little rumour was really quite gratifying, proving that once again, Fuji has really great taste in men. _Tezuka__, Tezuka, Tezuka. You can run and hide behind your cold quiet exterior but you can't get away. Not when I've got the whole tennis club after you as well. _

Things were going so well, in fact, that Fuji couldn't help but wonder if he should go ahead with phase 2 of his plan immediately. After all, as much as the non-regular players' reaction entertained him (and would irritate Tezuka), they were only non-regular players after all. If things got too much for Tezuka as he anticipated it would, it would be all too easy for Tezuka to switch responsibilities and have either Oishi or Inui take care of them instead. No, No, he needed the _whole_ tennis club after Tezuka, regular players included. Of course, some of the regulars would be really hard to persuade, like Oishi and Eiji, who are all too wrapped up with each other. Momoshiro is just a little too intimidated by his Tezuka buchou, but maybe he could fix that too… Inui would do anything in the name of data collection of course, and he rather wondered if Kaido had his own little crush on Tezuka himself. That leaves just Kawamura who is all too innocent in this game, and all, of course, Echizen Ryoma. 

_Are you old enough to play this game, Ochibi? Fuji wondered curiously and then a slow smile dawned. _What the heck. Like Kawamura is so fond of saying, Let's just do it! __

Fuji was about to make his pitch to the rest of the regulars, when he was pre-empted once again by Ryoma. 

The little ochibi suddenly said to the rest of the group, "Neh, senpai. If the non-regular players can improve their attitude to playing tennis just by entering the match, shouldn't we join too?"

"Nani?!"

"Ochibi! You're too young for this!" cried Eiji, rushing towards the twelve year old prodigy. "You're still too young to think about stuff like that!"

"Ochibi! You can't!" Momoshiro choked, shaking the slight young boy by the shoulders. "Do you know what you're getting into?" 

"Sure," replied Ryoma calmly. "I like playing in competitive matches. It's lots more fun. Besides, I want to beat Tezuka-senpai in a match, and the date thing doesn't sound too bad, especially if he has to pay for all the food and movie and stuff."

"Oh, you mean date, like the movie and food kind," said Momoshiro blankly. 

"Of course, what other kind of dates are they?" asked Ryoma as innocently as possible, even as his eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Eh, no. No, the movie and food kind of date is the kind to go! Yep! No better kind! Just, just stick to that thought, okay, ochibi?" Momoshiro began to babble in relief. 

Fuji grinned. _Thank you Ochibi, you just made my job a lot easier. "Say, I think Ochibi has got a great idea. After all, if the promise of a date with Tezuka can make the non regular players work so much harder, imagine the benefits of such a match on us regular players! Just to make things interesting, let's make it a special version of what the non regular players have."_

"Special how?" asked Inui curiously. 

"Well, we'll make it harder to have a date, let's say, any regular player would have to beat another regular, as well as Tezuka himself in a match. As for the specifics of the date, let's leave it to the winning individual. After all, we might have slightly different… ah, tastes… in the nature of dates as compared to the ochibi, yes? And I think I must insist that it last the entire night…." Fuji smiled again, a slow smile filled with unspoken promises. 

"Eeeyah! Fuji! You're acting all scary again!" cried a blushing Eiji, retreating quickly back to the security of Oishi's side. 

"Really? But it's a fun idea, isn't it?" 

Inui interrupted. "If we include a match with Tezuka in the stakes, then it must be a modified match. After all, he's just recovered from his injury after the match with Atobe. We don't want him to stress his arm again too much. I'd suggest a shortened match, best two games out of three instead of a full set." 

"Inui-senpai, you mean you're agreeing to the idea of Tezuka-senpai as the prize?" asked Momoshiro, aghast. 

"Nn, what's wrong with you?" asked an irate Ryoma. "Are you frightened of playing Tezuka-senpai or what?"

"Frightened?! I'll take on Tezuka-senpai anyday –"

"Good, thank you, Momo-kun," Fuji ruthlessly cut into Momoshiro's declaration. "So, that makes Ochibi, Momoshiro, Inui and me for the match and its prize… What about you, Kawamura-kun?" 

Kawamura suddenly looked panicked, "Er, me? I, I…" Ryoma handed him a racket quietly. "OF COURSE, LET'S GO! WE MUST PROTECT BUCHOU'S VIRGIN ASS!!"

A commotion instantly rose in the tennis changing room.

"Aack! Shuddup! Shuddup! Shuddup! God! Buchou is just inside showering!" 

"Someone get that racket away from him!"

"Kawamura, give me that racket now!"

"BUT WE MUST PROTECT --- OOWW! THAT HURT!"

"Nya, Oishi... How does Kawamura knows Buchou has a virgin ass?" 

"Believe me Eiji, I don't want to know! And I sure as heck don't want to find out!" 

Fuji grinned. "I wouldn't have put it quite that way, Kawamura-kun, but I'll take that as a yes."

Suddenly, Tezuka's voice rang out, cutting across all the noise. "What's going on here? What's with all the shouting? Answer me." As one, the regulars turned towards the source of the voice. _Oh my…_ Fuji thought appreciatively, a thought that the regulars could all agree with. 

Framed by the doorway between the showers and the changing room, Tezuka stood there with just a small towel wrapped around narrow hips. Tiny drops of water sparkled and hung from his brown locks of hair. His eyes, for once seen without the encumbrance of his glasses, were two clear and endless pools of grey. Even as they watched, a stray drop of water fell from Tezuka's hair and slowly slid its way past a flawless white column that was Tezuka's neck, stopping momentarily to pool by the elegant sculpture that was his collarbone, before falling endlessly past a soft pink nub of a nipple. Entranced, the entire regular team followed the drop of water's progress down lightly sculpted abs, two, four, six, and further down… 

… Into a soft shadow caused by a narrow jutting hip bone, and finally disappearing into the thin rough fabric of the towel. The same fabric that hid, and at the same time suggested so much with a faint rise underneath. A slow irregular hissing rose in the room, a perfect reflection of everyone's breathing rates at the moment. 

"What's up with all of you?" Tezuka asked with a slight hint of annoyance. He couldn't see much without his glasses, but he's been the captain of the team for two long years and he knew when something was wrong with his team mates even without seeing their expressions. 

Oishi choked and began a coughing fit at his particular question, and Eiji and Kawamura began to clumsily hit Oishi on his back to help his breathing. The rest of the regulars all started moving in an effort to hide their excited lower halves of their bodies somehow. Fuji managed to turn to a side, trusting his shirt to, er, cover, any undignified parts of his anatomy and covered his laugh with his hand. _Oh my dear Tezuka, Fuji thought with equal parts amusement and arousal,_ you pick the most unfortunate phrase to use right now, particularly since the 'up' more or less describes everyone's condition right now. __

In the end, it was Inui who cleared his throat rather more than necessary before answering the buchou's question. "We're all right, buchou. Just discussing some possible practice matches." 

"Oh," Tezuka squinted slightly against the light. "Is that Inui?"

"Yes, buchou."

"I need to ask you, how do you get your juice stains out? I've been washing my shirt for ten minutes, and I can still smell the thing."

"Ah, I believe my mother uses industrial strength bleach, buchou." 

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Tezuka turned back into the shower room and another round of sighs rose in the room as the perfectly formed back and snugly wrapped butt and legs that cried for attention vanished into the steamy confines of the shower room along with a muttered comment about the weird behaviour everyone's exhibiting today.

"No problem, buchou," came the soft, unheard answer. 

After a long moment of silence, Inui spoke again. "Let's do it. Beat any one of us, as well as Tezuka in a match, and get one night with him. Agreed?" 

"Yes," said Kaido hoarsely. "But Fuji-senpai must be the one who informs Tezuka-senpai of the match." 

"All right," replied Fuji without hesitation. "But I do it in my time, and my way."

One by one, all the regulars agreed. And then, in a vague air of embarrassment and suppressed sexual tension, the regulars went about changing into their school uniform while trying not to meet anyone's eyes and went home to dream their own private dreams. 

~~~

It's pretty much given that someone (or a few someones) would end up winning the match, but I'd like to put it to a vote… Which one of the Seigaku Regulars would you like to see win the night with Tezuka? Reply and review please! XD


	4. Action and Reaction

**The Rumour**

Chapter Four: Action and Reaction (Warning: Relatively Explicit Stuff Not Meant for Minors Ahead) 

Momoshiro looked up at his bedroom ceiling, his brain working overtime. It's not fair! He blamed Fuji-senpai for everything. For putting all those images of Tezuka-senpai in his mind. All that stuff about his eyes, and taunt body and lips. Momo-kun swallowed hard. And then there was the 'show' that Tezuka buchou provided that afternoon… That drop of water… that pale gorgeous body… Momo-kun's breath gave a little hitch and he blushed rosily. 

Argh! Shit, not again! Stupid body getting hard at a drop of a hat! Oh well, at least he's alone in his own bedroom instead of being stuck in a room with eight other guys. And this time, there's something he could do about it. _I can't help it if I'm a strapping, normal 14 year old boy with normal urges_, Momo-kun comforted himself even as his hand stole past the rather loose waistband elastic of his pyjamas pants and under his boxers.  He gave a soft sigh of relief, the feel of his member a familiar weight in his hand. 

And he's blaming Inui-senpai too, what with his talk about sexual fulfilment and young boys. Young boys… Ryoma-kun… Ack no! He can't think about Ochibi now! God, he's just a little kid! With an effort Momo-kun dragged his mind off the twelve year old boy and tried to think about other things. Like girls. 

Except that they were mostly a mystery to him. Funny how they're always running around in pairs, perpetually giggling at incomprehensible things. Momo-kun had to admit, though, that it did feel kind of good to have them look up to him with admiration. Made him feel big. Momo-kun squeezed a little harder. He's definitely regretting passing up the girlie magazine that the guys in class were passing around, but he was in a hurry to get to tennis practice that day. Ah well… Momo-kun found his mind wandering back to the image of Tezuka senpai from that afternoon. Unconsciously, his hand began to pump harder. That pale body, gleaming with moisture, was just… beautiful. It was weird, because they've all been in the showers together before, but he's never really, like, _looked_ at any of his team mates. 

_Man, what have I been missing all this time? He'd never notice what perfect skin Tezuka senpai had. And the rest of the package… long muscles wrapped around that gorgeous frame, the soft kissable nipples, that ass and those long long legs... Momoshiro wondered what those pink sensitive nubs would feel like under his hands, as he brought his free hand up under his t-shirt and began to caress his nipple in slow circular strokes with the rough, calloused palm of his hand. He moaned softly, and his other hand began to move to the same rhythm. _Hard and slow and that feeling of rough hands on skin…__

Tezuka senpai would have to have _some_ expression on his cold face by then, he thought dreamily. Yeah, those cold eyes would soften, and the hard lines of his mouth would soften into a moan… And then he'd take him by his dick, _just like that yeah,_ and slowly rub it all the way around, from the base of his member and over the turgid head and then back again. Slowly, slowly, and drive his buchou _wild_. 

He wondered what it would be like to go all the way with Tezuka-senpai, to have him bent forward in front of him, his cute white ass taking all the hammering that he's giving. Nah, he wanted to see his senpai's face as he thrust inside him. He needed to see – Momo-kun's breathing grew faster, in short panting spurts timed with the movement of his hand – Tezuka's face. See his body wrapped around his. See him pant and want him as badly as he does. 

An image came to him then, of Tezuka-senpai impaled on his dick, head flung back in the exact same strange mixture of ecstasy and pain he showed during match with Atobe, as Momoshiro thrust endlessly up into him. Up, up… Until the world explodes. 

God. 

Tezuka…

"Tezuka. Come, come!" The woman coach of Seigaku tennis club beamed. The relaxed woman motioned for the tall captain to come into her office. She had never stood on ceremony with any of her players under her charge, even quiet stubborn buchous. Life's too short for that crap, Ryuzaki sensi grinned. Besides, they were all like her grandchildren, to be taught, and cherished, and sometimes whacked on the head for their own good. But some never did need that extra whack, unlike others she could name. "Tezuka, come tell me about the miraculous fighting spirit that came over the entire club this week!" 

Tezuka Kunimitsu walked into the coach's office. "Ryuzaki sensei," he greeted politely. "As you said, everyone in the club is practicing hard, and putting in longer than normal hours. Here's a list of the more likely players who've improved the most in the past couple of weeks," Tezuka handed over a thin folder to the coach and continued. "I'd suggest holding another ranking tournament soon to see exactly how far they've improved. I know it would be a lot of effort as it's getting close to the self-study and examination periods, but it should be worth it to see if anyone's come up closer to the current regulars' level of playing. It'll be good practice for the younger regulars too."

Ryuzaki sensei looked over the report Tezuka prepared. "Ah, good. I see we've got the same people in mind. Hmm. Another ranking tournament would be a good idea, but we would need to hold it soon so that it doesn't interfere too much with you boys' studies… Let's see… Okay, we'll make it the end of the week then, if you and Oishi can finish the planning in time."

"Yes, sensei."

"By the way, Tezuka, you still haven't told me what magic method you've used on the non-regular players! Oishi told me that a number of them have been coming in early to practice – some of them are up so early, they're waiting for Oishi to open the club and courts!" 

Tezuka shrugged uncomfortably. "I haven't really done anything… Sensei, if there isn't anything else, I'll go prepare the listing and groups for the tournament then." 

"It's all right. Go on then!" 

"Yes, sensei." The buchou quickly took the opportunity to make a graceful escape to the courts. 

The sensei had made a good point though. This sudden enthusiasm by the players wasn't natural. He was pretty sure his training methods weren't that good, and besides, the entire tennis club have been acting strange, to say the least. Tezuka knew he wasn't approachable – he wasn't like Eiji, or Oishi, or Momoshiro, who had that essentially openness and light-heartedness that attracted people to them. No, he was more likely to garner their respect, rather than liking. Tezuka accepted that facet of his personality the way he accepted the colour of his eyes, or the size of his feet. They just _were. You don't have to think about it. This made it all the more strange to have people – first and second year players who used to greet him respectfully and then run over to the next court, for crying out loud – to suddenly come up to him and greet him with shy smiles, or open grins, or worse, "Tezuka-buchou, we'll work hard for you!"_

All he could think to say in return was "Nn." Well, what else could he say to that?! 

He'd even increase the usual practice load by 50% and all they said was "Hai, buchou!" and "We'll make you proud, buchou!" and then went right back to the practice with renewed vigour and smiles. _Smiles.__ It was almost as irritating as the people who keep mistaking him for an adult. And then there was the crowd that always started showing up whenever he's in the showers or in the changing room, although that little phenomenon had stopped as abruptly as it'd started. Even the regulars were getting a little strange. Momoshiro keeps blushing every time Tezuka spoke to him, Fuji has been getting very touchy-feely with him, although it was hard to tell whether that was the result of the recent weirdness, or just the normal Fuji-weirdness. The only people who remained the same were Sensei, Inui, Ryoma and Kawamura. Even Eiji and Oishi have been acting a little off lately… _

Something strange is definitely going on here. 

Tezuka felt a sudden pang. He wished, no, needed, to talk to his best friend. Oishi was the one who was good with people – heck, he was Tezuka's best friend, wasn't he? He's one of the few people to ignore Tezuka's stunted people and communication skills to come barrelling in with his friendship. If Tezuka was the stern disciplinarian of the team, then Oishi is the warm, caring 'mother' who worried about the players, encouraged them when they seemed down, and remembered their birthdays, and sent little presents to make them feel better when they're sick or hurt. It was good system that worked. Yes, Oishi would know what's going on, because he cared and made it his business to find out, and Tezuka wouldn't have to do anything else but ask Oishi.

Except… Oishi seemed to be avoiding him. It was a pretty neat trick too, considering they were in the same class, mused Tezuka. 

No, Tezuka stopped short in the middle of the stairway, things are not going to go on like this. One way or another, he's going to find out exactly what everyone is up to. He just has to get through today's practice first. Grimly, Tezuka tightened his grip on his racket bag, and headed out. 

At that very same moment, the Seigaku regulars were having an emergency meeting called by the object of Tezuka's thoughts. "I can't take this for much longer, you guys," moaned the vice captain, who was currently being fanned by Eiji. "I had to physically stop at least six of them from following Tezuka into his shower stall at the last practice, _and_ chase the lot out from the changing room while he's changing. They're getting out of control and I can't take it any more!"  

"I'm with Oishi! If he says he can't take it any more, then we should stop!" Eiji said stoutly. 

"But Oishi, the non regular players have improved by 68% already! You can't just take away their hope for having Tezuka just like that! Think about the tennis team!" protested Inui. 

"But…" said Oishi weakly. 

"Don't worry, Oishi-kun," smiled Fuji. "If you're really worried about Tezuka's chastity, I'd be pleased to help you protect him from those horrible people." 

"Yeah, but who'll protect the buchou from you?" muttered Kaido softly. 

"Did you say something, Kaido-kun?" Fuji asked, with a fixed smile still on his face. 

"Er…"

"Shush! He's coming! Buchou's coming!" Eiji wriggled excitedly. Indeed, the captain was moving through the gates and gesturing for all the members to assemble before him. 

After a mad scramble to get the best spots closest to the buchou, the assembled boys chorused happily, "Ohaiyo, Buchou!" 

"Nn," said Tezuka without any visible change in his expression. "We would be holding a special ranking tournament this Friday and Saturday—," A mad tumult started at those words as the gathered crowd burst into excited whispers. _"It's the match! It's finally coming true!" All right!" "It'll be the best time of your life, buchou!"_ "Settle down right now, or run twenty laps!" ordered Tezuka sternly. _The best time of my life?_ wondered Tezuka with a frown. _I must have heard wrongly. _Quickly, the boys settled back into an anticipatory silence. "As I was saying," Tezuka continued loudly, "We will have a ranking tournament this week to determine everyone's standings in the club. We will be posting the group lists that you all will be competing in after practice today. As this would be the final ranking tournament before the start of the examination study period, I expect all of you to do your best." He looked around at the happy faces around him. "All right, back to practice, all of you!" Tezuka finished firmly.

"Yes, Buchou!" The cry erupted from the throats of the thirty odd boys present. 

"Oishi, I'll need to talk to you later about the arrangements for the tournament," Tezuka requested. 

"All right. We'll meet after practice then," smiled Oishi a little desperately. 

"Nn." 

~~~

Thanks for the reviews everyone! So far, Fuji's up ahead in the stakes to win, but things might change anytime! grin So far, I've two, ah, encounters, floating in my head for Tezuka, but things are still pretty fluid, depending on what evilness comes to me. 


	5. Heart to Heart

**The Rumour**

Chapter Five: Heart to Heart… Talk!

After Tezuka's announcement, the entire tennis club erupted into a frenzy of training and practice. With everyone scrambling for any free court space, tensions were mounting high. In the end, Momoshiro and Kaido both decided to train off court, with Kaido knee-deep in the small stream behind the school and Momoshiro in the small clearing just beyond the stream, trying to strengthen his power serve even more. For a while, there was no conversation other than an occasional grunt of effort, or the whoosh of expelled breath. 

Then Kaido decided to switch to practicing his forearm serve. Since his unique form of practice set by Inui-senpai consisted of swinging a long, heavy wet cloth that was meant to force Kaido to use every part of his upper-body strength, it meant that Momoshiro got a face full of water at Kaido's first swing. 

"Oi!" Momoshiro snapped! "You splashed me, you mamushi!"

Kaido turned and glanced briefly at Momoshiro. Then, he moved exactly three steps to the left before continuing his forearm practice. A silvery stream of water flew through the air and landed on Momoshiro's shoes. 

_Why you stupid… Momoshiro growled. He had been in a bad mood ever since Fuji-senpai tricked him into agreeing to that stupid match with buchou as the ultimate prize. He hadn't been able to look his buchou in the eye at practice ever since. Yet at night… the image of his buchou haunted his dreams. And fantasies. He'd never thought about buchou like that before! Arrgghh! And now this stupid mamushi is looking for a fight… Hormones churning, Momoshiro snapped. "Mamushi! Let's settle this once and for all!" _

Kaido slowly turned his heard and looked at his rival with his trademark glare. "Hss… Fine. But I don't have my racket with me." 

"Who said anything about settling anything with tennis," grinned Momoshiro fiercely before springing onto Kaido with his fists bunched up. 

His first punch missed Kaido, and before long, the two players were grappling on the ground, twisting and bucking. 

"Ah~! Ah~!"

"Hsss….!" 

"Oow!"

_Splash! A sudden deluge of water cascaded down onto the two boys. Drenched to the skin, Kaido and Momoshiro looked up in shock at the immense figure standing before them. _

"I thought you two might need a little cooling off," said Inui calmly, an empty bucket in his hands. 

"He started it," Kaido and Momoshiro pointed at each other in unison. Then the two boys moved away from each other in a huff. 

Inui frowned. "Kaido has the worst temper on the team, so I'm not surprised at his part in this… But Momoshiro, I expect better from you. What's wrong with you?" 

"What's wrong with me?!" Momoshiro laughed half hysterically. "The stupid mamushi is always hissing at me, I'm hot and I'm wet. I'm spending all my days training to beat a person I'll never be able to beat in my lifetime and my nights dreaming and jerking off with buchou constantly in my head! And you ask me what's wrong?!"

"Hss.. too much… hss… information," muttered Kaido, turning pale. 

"Shut up! Oh, like you're not training harder than ever to win buchou for yourself!" 

"Hss…" 

"I think I'm going crazy. I think we are all going crazy. I never use to think about guys this way, much less the buchou. And yet, here we are, all training like mad to win a match and date with bucho, who doesn't even _know he's the prize," Momoshiro laughed bitterly. "What are we doing?" he demanded, looking at Inui pleadingly. "No one will be able to beat him, and even if by some miracle, someone does, buchou will probably kill him and the rest of us when he finds out about this stupid match and it's prize. Why are we doing this, Inui-senpai?" _

Inui looked down at the younger player sympathetically, then sighed and seated himself on the grass in front of Kaido and Momoshiro. "You're right," he started. "The chances of either you or Kaido being able to beat Tezuka at your current forms are minute. Probably no more than 4 or 5% at the most. But so what? Knowing that you are up against a stronger player never stopped either of you from playing before, whether it was Hyotel, or Fudomine, or any of the other schools. In fact, you guys thrive on it. The stronger, the better. And Tezuka is the strongest. Not just in terms of skills, or technical ability, but in his total commitment to the game, to the team. Wanting to beat the strongest player around is a normal urge for any good player." 

Inui paused and looked up at the blue sky overhead. "I want to beat him too," he said softly. "If I can just understand how he plays, if I can get his indomitable spirit… Maybe then I will be as good a player as he is. That's why I want to beat him." 

"As for the other part of it – the date, I mean," Inui took a moment to adjust his glasses, "I can't speak for anyone else, but after beating Tezuka in tennis, I want to try to put another type of expression on his face. And that's all you need to know," he concluded with the slightest smile lurking at the corner of his mouth. 

Momoshiro let out a light cough, and started examining his hands with a wry smile playing at his lips. "A'hem. Yeah. That I can understand. To beat buchou and, er, the other thing. It'll be good to surprise the buchou and see his face change for once." He stopped and let out a huge breath, looking much calmer than before. "Thanks, Inui-senpai. I think I'm all right now." The innately fair-minded player then turned to Kaido and sighed. "Oi, Kaido. I'm sorry about just now. I'm been pretty stressed and confused, and I kinda took it out on you just now." 

Kaido didn't bother to respond, but the usual glare on his face lessened, and the 'Viper' looked less murderous than usual. Momoshiro took this as for an acceptance of his apology and was about to get up and leave when a huge hand blocked his move. 

"Inui-senpai…?" But the senpai was not looking at him. 

"Don't you have something to say to Momo-kun too, Kaido?" 

Kaido hissed and shot a look of exasperation and mild disgust at his bespectacled senpai, who simply shrugged it off. "Kaido-kun," Inui said in a sing-song fashion. "If you don't talk, I'll test my new special Inui Power Juice on you tomorrow…"

"Hss…" Kaido stared at Inui-senpai, but finally gave up in the face of Inui's mad-scientist smile. Not quite looking at Momoshiro, the boy muttered, "Hss… I have asthma."

"Huh?" Momoshiro looked bewildered. This was the last thing Momoshiro expected to hear. 

"Hsss… I had asthma when I was young. The doctors did something to fix it, but I ended up with making this noise every time I have to breathe deeply or quickly." 

"You mean that stupid hissing noise — I mean, breathing – wasn't on purpose?" asked Momoshiro, the bewilderment on his face rapidly clearing. "Geesh, you silly mamushi! Why didn't you say so from the start instead of letting me think you were doing it on purpose?!" 

Kaido looked slightly embarrassed. "Hss… People get scared when I breathe like this. It pisses me off. Everyone – except Tezuka buchou, he treats me exactly the same as he does anyone else." 

"You mean when you told him you could play tennis, he just nodded, took your name down, put a racket in your hand and told you to report at the courts after school," Momoshiro pointed out dryly.

"Yessssh. _Exactly like everyone else," Kaido agreed. "He treats me like any other promising tennis player in the club, and not like a freak. I want to try to live up to his expectations and play the best I can… And if the day comes when I can finally beat him, I know Tezuka buchou will be the first person to come over to congratulate me and tell me it's a good match," finished Kaido. _

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Buchou is cool that way," admitted Momoshiro. "Hey, but what about the date? What've you got planned if you do win the match with buchou?" 

Kaido got up abruptly and muttered, "None of your business." He turned to walk away, but Momoshiro was already jumping up to his feet. "Matte, Kaido! Come on, we're team mates, we can share these things!"

"Hss…!" 

"Wait for me, Oi! Kaido~!" The sounds of their bickering and occasional hissing slowly faded as the two boys disappeared in the direction of the courts. Inui looked back up to the deep blue sky and smiled. "The things we senpais have to do for our kohais," he sighed before taking out his notebook and started to take notes. 

"Let's see, Momoshiro obviously has very healthy sexual drives… Also, bounces back very quickly from stress… Kaido probably is the same in terms of sexual drive… but at what probability? Hmm…"  
  


Leaving Inui behind, the two second year players were about to head back to the practice courts when Kaido suddenly stopped. Momoshiro, who was more intent on teasing Kaido, and less intent on where he was going, bumped into the boy from behind. "Hey, why did you stop so suddenly?"

"Hsss… Hyotei players are here."

"What? Where?" He followed Kaido's gaze towards the school gate, where the three Hyotei students stood out in their different uniforms.

"What the hell are _they doing here?" asked Momoshiro angrily. "They've got some nerve, showing their faces around here after injuring Tezuka-senpai and Kawamura-senpai!" The boy marched up to the Hyotei visitors, with Kaido following close behind him. _

"What do you want, Atobe?" He demanded furiously, while Kaido simply glared at Kabaji and Oshitari who stood behind their captain.

"Ah, good, it's Momoshiro," said the Hyotei captain arrogantly. "You can show me to your tennis courts. I heard that Tezuka is back and fully recovered from his injury."

"So what? You're not satisfied with injuring buchou the last time and have come to finish the job off, is that it?" Momoshiro growled. 

The Hyotei buchou looked stung. "I just came to see how he's doing," Atobe snapped back haughtily, but then an unfamiliar look of hesitation stole across his face for a split second. "Also… we've been hearing about this strange rumour that's going around about this tennis match with a date with Tezuka as its prize…"

_Oh shit! Momoshiro and Kaido thought simultaneously. The original righteous anger that fuelled both boys so far suddenly turned into cold grey ashes lodged in their throats. The Seigaku players exchanged looks of barely restrained terror, then Kaido mouthed one word, "_Stall!_" and dashed off towards the tennis courts. _

"Hey, where's he going?" asked Atobe, slightly miffed at the lack of respect shown so far. "How rude."   
"Er," Momoshiro hesitated, mind racing for a way to stall the Hyotei players. "What rumour are you talking about?" 

A pale flush came and went over Atobe's flawless face. "The rumour…. Well, it's probably nothing. Insane to even believe that Tezuka would lower himself and agree to this kind of foolishness." 

_Oh shit! Momoshiro thought. __It's gotten out to the other schools! Which idiot spread it around…?! Momoshiro tried to slow down his heart rate by breathing deeply, but Atobe, who's still talking, didn't even seem to notice. _

"But it would be good to play Tezuka again… and maybe be able to spend some time together after…" 

Momoshiro tried not to choke at that. _Not Atobe too?!_

~~~

Hello! waves happily I've just decided to complicate matters by opening things up to the other schools… It's called the rumour after all, and rumours do travel. Heh heh. 


	6. Conversations and Nosebleeds

**The Rumour**

(Author's note: Minor changes made in Chapter 5. Oshitari has been included at the last minute in the visit to Seigaku.)

Chapter Six: Conversations and Nosebleeds 

Having received advanced warning of the Hyotei players' arrival, Oishi finagled Tezuka into leaving the tennis courts early, thus avoiding the showdown between the three Hyotei players and the Seigaku regulars. 

Atobe stared at the Seigaku players ranged before him. "You mean it's true?" He asked incredulously, a strange light growing in his eyes. "You'll all be playing for Tezuka this Saturday?"

"Well, truth is such an ephemeral concept, don't you think?" Fuji smiled serenely. 

"Screw truth," said Oshitari sarcastically. "It's a two for one thing, is it? Beat Tezuka in a match and you'll get to fuc—," Before the Hyotei doubles player could go on, a tennis ball hit his nose dead on, courtesy of Kaido, while Momoshiro clapped his hands over Ryoma's ears.

"OW!" Oshitari got up from the floor, cradling his bleeding nose. "What the _hell was that for?" He shouted, digging frantically in his pockets for a handkerchief to stem the flow of blood.  _

"Keep your mouth clean. We've got young players here," muttered Kaido, throwing a quick look at a twisting and squirming Ryoma who's trying his best to peel Momoshiro's hands away from his ears. Hoping that Ochibi hasn't heard anything _too detrimental to his emotional wellbeing, Kaido and Momoshiro exchanged a rare look of understanding above the twelve year old's head. _

"Ah… Quite," said Atobe, fixing a hard glare at Oshitari for good measure. "Let's take this conversation somewhere more private, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," smiled Fuji scarily.

"Kabaji, Oshitari, you two stay here. – And Oshitari? Go get your head looked at." 

Ryoma picked this unfortunate moment to snicker. 

It took the combined efforts of Kabaji, Kawamura and Momoshiro to hold Oshitari back from killing Ryoma. 

After Oshitari was subdued, Atobe and Fuji moved to the marginally more private changing room. The Hyotei captain cast a disparaging look around the rather dank room. "Humph, doesn't Seigaku have any better facilities than this?"

Fuji smiled. "No." He wasn't about to show Atobe to the normal meeting room they had for guests, chiefly because Tezuka and Oishi are already there. Making sure that Tezuka and Atobe do not meet up today was fast becoming the key priority in Fuji's list of things to do. Fuji continued smiling. 

"Fine, fine. In any case, I'm not here to enjoy the amenities offered by Seigaku." Atobe waved off his own complaint and seated himself gingerly on the wooden bench. He took a deep breath. "I want in on the match with Tezuka," he said flatly. "I'll do anything necessary." 

Fuji simply smiled. 

"I'm not interested in the date with Tezuka, of course. A person of my personal perfection requires a companion of like perfection, or at least _close perfection. Tezuka – while, ah, pretty, in his own way, can hardly be thought of as a candidate for such a position," Atobe stole a look at Fuji to guage his reaction. _

Smile. Smile. 

Atobe would have fidgeted, except he was only too conscious of the fact that perfect people _do not fidget. He rushed on. "I just want to have another fair match with Tezuka. One where his arm has fully recovered and he can play to the best of his capabilities. After all, only Tezuka in prime condition is worthy of meeting me in a match."_

Smile. Smile. 

Atobe got up and started pacing up and down the small confines of the room. "It's ridiculous! Really, this thing about a date… I can't _imagine_ what got into Tezuka, offering an entire night with himself as the prize. Very unlike him. Ah, not that I know him that well, of course, but you think you'd get to know a person after playing a match like the one we had. I mean, a date? With the possibility of sex afterwards?" Atobe flushed alarmingly at his own thoughts. 

Smile Smile. 

"I thought he'd be too cold to even consider dating. But then again, he did show a lot of… passion… when we were playing each other. That look on his face…" Atobe swallowed deeply. "He couldn't… _I couldn't… I mean…" He looked back at Fuji. "For God's sake, stop smiling! Don't you have anything to say?!" the Hyotei captain snapped. _

Fuji smiled. And said, "Tezuka was standing naked at the same exact spot you're standing right now." 

As the words slowly percolated in the Hyotei captain's brain, a steady stream of blood began to flow down his nose. "I, I," Atobe started to say, swaying on his feet for a moment longer before fainting dead away. 

Hearing the loud thump, Eiji stuck his head around the door from where he'd been standing all along. He contemplated at the unconscious body on the changing room floor for a moment. "Nyah, Syusuke. You're evil," said Eiji seriously in his cute chibi way. 

Still smiling, Fuji cocked his head to a side. "Really?" The tensai's smile deepened. "Want to help me dispose his body?"

While Atobe was busy fainting, Oshitari was getting his nose looked at by Kaido. 

"Ow! Hey, a little more care here, please. It's my nose, not a bloody peg for you to twist."

"Hsss…" 

"You guys aren't serious about this thing with Tezuka, are you? I mean, he's your buchou and everything…"

"Hsss…"

"I give up," muttered Oshitari. "I just want to go home now please."

"Hsss…"

In the meantime, another short but meaningful conversation between two bad conversationalists was taking place. 

"Kabaji-san, how's your hand?" Kawamura asked shyly. "Did you see the therapist the doctor recommended?"

"Kawamura-san," replied the immense third year student from Hyotei in a soft monotone. "Yes, I've been seeing the therapist for a couple of weeks now, and my hand's fully recovered." 

"Oh, that's good." Kawamura studied his shoes for a moment while casting his mind for another topic to talk about. He really needed to improve his skills at making social conversation, thought Kawamura glumly. "So… what brings you to Seigaku today?"

"Atobe has been acting like he's got a stick up his ass ever since he heard that rumour about Tezuka from our first-year players. So the coach told me to bring him here to get laid and get Tezuka out of his system," Kabaji reported mechanically, without any particular change in expression.  

Kawamura fell over. 

Kabaji's thick brow furrowed slightly and he leaned slightly forward. "Kawamura-san? Your nose is bleeding," he pointed out helpfully. 

"…" 

"You want me to ask Atobe if it's okay for me to get you some help?"

"… it's… okay… Just hand me that racket, will you…?"

Oishi was staring out the window overlooking the tennis courts in anxiety. The huge form of Kabaji was unmistakable. And that made the two other figures, Atobe and Oshitari. Maybe he should go back down to check up on them. But he couldn't just leave Tezuka alone, especially if the Hyotei guys are wandering around. God, if Kaido was right, and they're here to check out on the rumour about the match... The vice-captain blanched at the thought of Atobe Keigo accidentally telling Tezuka that he's here to win a date with him via tennis._ Please, God, I'll do anything if we all just survive this day._

"Oishi?"

"Ah," Oishi looked back with a start. "Yes, Tezuka?" He asked guiltily. 

"Here are my proposed groupings for the tournament. Do you have anything you want to change?" Tezuka repeated patiently without any visible expression on his face. 

"Oh, uh, sure," said Oishi. "Just let me take a look…" He looked down at the listings, but the names just swam on the paper. He glanced over to Tezuka, only to find the tall, stoic captain steadily looking at him too. Oishi blushed without thinking. 

"Oishi? Are you all right?" Tezuka's deep voice sounded softly in the room. 

"Er.." Oishi dragged his eyes away from Tezuka's face, _his strong, beautiful face, his traitorous brain added,__ and swallowed. "I, I'm all right, I guess." _

To his dismay, Tezuka got up and seated himself directly opposite Oishi. Oishi gulped mentally at the sudden proximity and felt his internal temperature rise a notch at the closeness between them. At this distance, Oishi could only see his best friend's clear grey eyes looking right back at him. When Tezuka shifted his gaze to the piece of paper between them, Oishi couldn't help feeling relieved, but at the same time, a little disappointed. 

They have been best friends for what seemed like forever, the quiet, seriously cute chibi Tezuka and Oishi. Tezuka may be less vocal than all the other little kids around, but Oishi didn't see what the big deal was. And anyway, when it came to the things Tezuka was passionate about – like tennis – he had no problems whatsoever making his opinions known. For everything else, as long as you paid attention, it was actually rather easy to understand what Tezuka wanted to communicate. 

Like now, when Tezuka is alternatively looking at Oishi with that particular soft bent to his mouth, then looking away again. That was Tezuka's unspoken language for, 'I'm worried about you, want to tell me what's wrong so I can help in whatever way I can? But I won't ask you directly in case you don't want to talk about it yet, because it's okay, I can always wait. I'll be here for you any time you want'. This was a lot to convey in a single look, but that's Tezuka for you. 

Oishi ached to tell Tezuka everything. To unload to his best friend all the stress and worry that he's been carrying around for the past week ever since he found out about the stupid rumour Fuji spread, and the subsequent decision to play for real. But he didn't know how Tezuka will react. The best case scenario was that Tezuka would have them running laps until they all graduate, but what if he didn't? What if this ridiculous mess somehow spoiled their friendship for good? Oishi bit his lip in confusion. 

He looked up, an excuse to dodge Tezuka's unspoken question already on his lips, when he saw Tezuka's eyes soften in understanding, and a tiny smile quirk up at the corner of his mouth. It was Tezuka-speech for 'It's okay. I understand you don't want to talk right now. I can wait.' _He understood. Oishi thought in relief, a small answering smile rising on his face. For the first time in the entire week, Oishi felt himself relax. __Thank you, Tezuka._

Suddenly, the fragile calm in the tennis meeting room was broken by the distant but clear sound of Kawamura's shouting. "_ATOBE! YOU SPAWN OF EVIL! STAY AWAY FROM OUR BUCHOU'S VIRGIN ASS!"_

_What the shit?! Oishi suddenly sat up, heart pounding. __This can't be happening now. I didn't just hear that. I didn't. The vice captain's blood pounded and his stomach clenched with pain in response. _

"Was that Kawamura?" Tezuka hesitated, his face a rare study of bewilderment. "Oishi, did Kawamura just shouted what I think he shouted…?" His voice trailed off then suddenly sharpened. "Oishi! What's wrong?!" Tezuka got up from his seat and laid a concerned hand on Oishi's shoulder. 

"Sorry. I don't… feel very well," gasped Oishi, face pale and sweating. "Stomach… hurts…"

Tezuka's face set with purpose, and he bent and picked Oishi right off his chair. "Hold on, Oishi," he commanded, muscles shifting effortlessly to accommodate Oishi's sudden weight. "I'll get you to the school infirmary." Tezuka strode over and kicked the door open, with Oishi securely wrapped within his arms.

Oishi hung his arms around Tezuka's neck. "Okay," he mumbled weakly into Tezuka's broad, strong shoulder. _I'm so dead. The scent of Tezuka, of soap and sunshine and clean cotton, drifted into his nose. _

_I'm in heaven, thought his heart. _

Tezuka had taken him to the school infirmary, had stood like the very image of responsibility as he recounted to the school nurse what happened. Tezuka had stood at the foot of the infirmary bed as the school nurse scurried about taking Oishi's pulse and temperature, measuring his blood pressure. Oishi saw Tezuka's shoulders relax minutely as the nurse diagnosed stress and low blood sugar, and stiffen again with resolve as the nurse prescribed food and rest for him. Saw him vanish through the infirmary doors, only to return minutes later with a sugar bun and some milk. 

"Eat," Tezuka's low voice urged. "And rest. I'll take care of the club practice." 

Saw Tezuka wait patiently while he slowly ate the food he'd brought, and nod in approval when he finished. 

"Stay here and rest," was Tezuka's final instructions before returning to his duties as captain. 

"Yes, buchou," Oishi replied obediently. _I've done all that I can, he thought to his fellow Seigaku regulars. _The rest is up to you.__

~~~

Hello! Thanks to everyone for all the kind reviews! This really feeds my ego, which in turn prods my muse into writing action. :-)  There's been a sudden spate of votes for Oishi X Tezuka recently, and I must confess, I'm starting to get really conflicted about who should win. So, until the decision is made, I'm going to leave myself space to work – ie, a lot of innuendo for everyone in relation to Tezuka. This chapter is very Oishi friendly, while some of the earlier chapters have hinted at a Momoshiro X Tezuka pairing. Other regular-friendly bits are on its way. May the best regular win… grins


	7. An Alternative Ending

**The Rumour**

We are pleased to present a special, sexually explicit, yaoi-packed programme, The Alternate Universe Ending to 'The Rumour' – The Director's Cut! (Otherwise known as the Author's Temporary Outbreak of Insanity.) We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will return you to the regular schedule for 'Chapter Seven: Truth VS Grapevine' within the next twenty-four hours. We hope you will enjoy this one-time only special, and would appreciate any feedback.  Thank you. – Regards, The Author and The Author's Evil Split Personality. 

The Rumour's Alternative Universe Ending – Director's Cut

Tezuka stormed from the infirmary, his face set in lines of anger. All around him, students were falling away before him in terror. He swung around the corner, and past the stream behind the courts. Inui caught sight of the dark aura surrounding Tezuka and made the instant, correct, decision to follow the Seigaku captain so as to not miss the new chance of Tezuka data collection.

Tezuka swung into the courts like an avenging arch-angel, with Inui following fast behind him. "Seigaku regulars! Assemble in the changing room at once!" He barked. 

Within moments, the full complement of players, less Oishi, stood ramrod straight before their leader in the changing room. Tezuka locked the door behind them, and then turned to face everyone again. 

"I want to know what is going on and I want to know it now!" He snapped out. The regulars exchanged looks and shifted guiltily on their feet. Just then, a soft voice sounded from the door. "Tezuka…" Oishi stood at the changing room door, key in hand. 

Tezuka swung around. "Oishi! What are you doing? I thought I told you to rest!" He scowled. He knew why Oishi was here instead of resting in the infirmary. Concerned about the regulars, Oishi's mother-hen syndrome has struck again. True enough, Oishi just smiled, "I'm lots better already after eating the bun you bought."

"Fine." If Oishi wanted to come and do damage control, then fine. Let him try. But Tezuka was going to find out what in blazes his regulars are up to today, no matter what happens! He turned back to face the regulars. "Well? I asked a question." 

Fuji stepped – was pushed? – forward. His customary smile still firmly affixed on his face, Fuji replied softly. "It's nothing really." He paused for a moment and continued in a soft calm voice, "We just told everyone that they'll get to sleep with you if they manage to beat you in a match." 

Tezuka heard the words as if from a distance. _Sleep with me…_ His brain struggled with the enormity of those calmly spoken words and failed. 

The shock, coupled with the worries accumulated over the past week, proved to be too much for the rattled captain's nerves to handle. A wave of darkness descended before his eyes and Tezuka fainted. 

Momoshiro leapt to Tezuka's side and managed to catch him before he could collapse onto the floor. "Buchou!" The regulars gathered around Tezuka's fallen body. 

"Nyah! Syusuke! You killed him!" 

"Did Buchou have a heart attack?!" 

Inui muscled his way into the crowd surrounding the unconscious Tezuka. "Make way," He ordered, waving Ryuzaki sensei's spare copy of the First Aid manual. Anxiously, the regulars waited as the data collection expert felt for Tezuka's pulse. 

"He's all right. He just fainted," reported Inui, gently laying Tezuka's wrist back down. A wave of relief swept over the crowd. 

"What should we do?" asked Oishi anxiously. 

Inui referred to the manual. "The manual says to give the patient air, and loosen his clothing." Inui stopped abruptly. Around him, various interesting, some may even say predatory, looks appeared on the regulars. 

"I'll, ah, _loosen Buchou's clothing for him," grinned Momoshiro fixedly. _

"I'll help," said Kaido promptly, with a mad gleeful look in his eyes. The two second year regulars tore at Tezuka's clothes enthusiastically. Behind them, Echizen grumbled, "Serves him right for being so fierce."

Fuji smiled. "And I'll give him air," the tensai volunteered cheerfully.

"Nyah! I wanna give Buchou air too!" Eiji protested. "I'm _good_ at mouth to mouth! I took lessons!" 

Kawamura growled with a hot blush staining his cheeks, "Take a number." 

Oishi wandered up to Inui's side. "Say, does that book say anything about giving the patient some, ah, extra stimulation?" 

Inui looked down at the manual. Looked at Tezuka's fast-becoming-naked body. Swallowed. Tossed the book aside. "Couldn't hurt," he said deadpan, the tiniest of smiles forming on his face. 

…

Tezuka drifted back halfway between sleep and consciousness, feeling strangely… _aroused. _

It was warm. He was naked. And there were people touching him. A tiny part of his brain was outraged but was completely outnumbered by the rest of Tezuka, which was purring in pleasure at the tactile feelings coursing through his body. Someone was kissing him, soft featherlike touches across his face. Someone was spooning him from behind, back rubbing against chest, butt against hips. There were a small lithe body glued snugly along his hip and down his leg, and another warm secure presence pressed up against his other side. Two wet, warm tongues were coursing up and down across his chest, swirling around his nipples, hands were wandering over his abdominal muscles, and below, _God_, below was _more hands caressing his dick, and that sensitive spot behind his balls. Someone was straddled across his leg. Someone was laughing softly. _

Tezuka moaned involuntarily and shifted in response to all the contact, all the _touches. It was almost too much to bear. His eyes fluttered open, but without his glasses, all he could see was parts of a blurred face. He moved his head aside a little and squinted a little. Beyond the face were figures, light and dark, crouched over him in a variety of poses. They looked like his team mates. The people he most trusted in the world outside his family. __Oh. The captain let his head fall back, to find himself cradled in someone's arms. _This is a dream…_ He sighed languorously, his body alight with sensation. _

"Tezuka, are you awake?" someone asked softly, nuzzling his jaw line between each word.

"Nn… No," Tezuka managed to answer, before his eyes blurred over with the sensory overload caused by a warm, wet mouth closing over his dick. _God.__ He arched his back involuntarily, thrusting his pelvis forward for better access. Someone laughed, a different voice, deeper and more amused. "I think Buchou has finally woken up and joined the party." _

_I don't do parties very well, Tezuka wanted to say, except at that moment, most of his concentration had pooled away to the lower half of his body. The few remaining fragments, on the other hand, was preoccupied with the soft lips covering his mouth, the warm tongue darting into his mouth in open exploration. _

He was panting, breath ragged, by the time the kiss finally broke. His member was fully engorged, almost painfully so, under the ministrations of an oh-so-talented mouth. Tezuka strained to look down the length of his own body, past the various hands fondling him down to the spikey haired head bent over his crotch. "Mo—Momoshiro?" he asked hoarsely. 

The mouth paused, and withdrew. Momoshiro looked up and smiled, "Yes, Buchou?" 

"Oh," said Tezuka, momentarily breathless. He stopped, caught his much needed breath. "Nothing. Carry on," Tezuka said faintly as he slumped back bonelessly. 

Momoshiro's entire face lit up with a brilliant light and he smiled radiantly. A voice from behind him broke in, "It'll be easier, and better for you if you sat up a bit, buchou." Then action matched voice as the body behind him half lifted, half pulled him into a reclining position. Tezuka twisted weakly in the strong grip he found himself in, sparking off a slew of mews and soft protests from the various bodies around him. "Taka --?" he asked confusedly, half falling forward. Strong muscled arms prevented him from falling further, pulling him back into a snug embrace from behind. Kawamura smiled and rested his face against Tezuka's as he nuzzled his ear. "Yes, Buchou?" he mimicked Momoshiro in a show of shy humour, hands tightening around his middle, even as Tezuka became extremely aware of Kawamura's erection pressed against his back. 

"Everyone's… here?" Tezuka breathed. 

A face approached his and resolved into Fuji's smiling visage. " Everyone's here, Tezuka."

The captain blinked. Now that he was more or less seated upright, he could see better. Eiji had broken off from licking his chest, was looking up at him with indomitable good cheer. Still crouched on all fours like a cat, the hyper-genki player grinned at him. "Nyah, Buchou, we got tired of waiting for you." 

Inui sat beyond him with Kaido wrapped around him in a position that defied description. He adjusted his glasses and smirked, "Yes, we got tired of waiting and started without you." Kaido blushed. Ryoma simply ignored everyone and everything and remained curled up, head cushioned on Tezuka's hip, arms wrapped around his leg. 

Oishi smiled from his position on Tezuka's other side, and pressed a soft kiss in the middle of Tezuka's chest. As if it was a signal, the entire cadre of Seigaku regulars returned to what they were doing with renewed vigour. 

Tezuka felt as if he was about to explode – that or die from the sheer intensity of the things being done to him. He moaned, writhing feverishly against Kawamura beneath him. "Buchou," Kamawara gasped in a strangled voice. "You have to stop that… or I can't control myself much longer."

Tezuka rasped, perspiration pouring down his body. "Then don't – Ah – ," He bucked violently, uncontrollably, as he came in Momoshiro's mouth. Momoshiro pulled Ryoma to a side, and Fuji and Eiji shifted away as well, both couples stroking and caressing each other as they moved away, leaving Tezuka to Oishi and Kawamura. Breathing heavily, Oishi pulled Tezuka towards him, and pulled him up into a standing full body hug. Oishi backed against to the wall, pulling a pliant Tezuka along with him. Kawamura followed, forming a sandwich with Tezuka in the middle. "Are you sure, Buchou?" asked Kawamura, eyes glittering with desire. "It would hurt," he warned. Tezuka nodded wordlessly, wrapping his arms around Oishi for support, his legs braced open. 

Kawamura sank his member into Tezuka's ass, who cried out in pain at the sudden unprepared entry even as Oishi smothered his cry in a hungry, open-mouthed kiss, drowning the painful sensations in a deep, deep kiss. The three boys rocked against each other, Tezuka shaking as Kawamura seemed to split him into two, Oishi feeling Kawamura's every thrust and withdrawal travel through Tezuka and reciprocating with his own rhythmic grinding against Tezuka's hips and dick. Caught between extreme pain and pleasurable provocation, Tezuka threw his head back and shouted a long wordless cry. At his shout, Kawamura shuddered and came first, spilling his seed in Tezuka in a thick spurt. The third year player collapsed onto the floor, legs suddenly too weak to hold him up any longer. Tezuka held on for a moment longer to Oishi, both boys shaking. 

Tezuka stared at Oishi with pain/pleasure glazed eyes and took his best friend's member in his hand. "Now you," he commanded, his hand stroking Oishi. "You," he growled mindlessly. 

Oishi nodded and sank to the floor, dragging Tezuka along with him. "I want to see your face," Oishi said hoarsely, as he positioned Tezuka above his dick. "I want to see you shout like you did just now." Tezuka lowered himself inch by painful inch down Oishi's shaft, his face contorting as he did so. Oishi bucked his hips involuntarily at the sensation of penetrating Tezuka, _his friend, at the tight, warm sheathe enveloping his member, at the wetness from Kawamura's cum. "Hah…Hah…" Oishi gripped Tezuka by the hips as he thrusted upwards. "…Tezuka!" His shouts intermingled with Tezuka's cries. Oishi came finally with the sight of Tezuka's pale body above him emblazoned in his mind. _

The boys fell together at the last, unmoving in a tangle of limbs and elbows for a long moment. 

The captain's eyelids fell in exhaustion, but opened again at the feel of a warm mouth pressing against his lips. "Again?!" Tezuka croaked. "I'm already dead." 

Brilliant blue eyes glittered above him. "Yes again," Fuji smiled, his hand wandering down Tezuka's exhausted form. "And if you die… Then I'll just have to take up necrophilia as a hobby." 

Unbidden, Tezuka's body stirred and his member stiffened. Fuji straddled Tezuka, and murmured in a soft, seductive voice right against his ear, "I liked what you did with Momo-kun," 

He paused, fitting actions to words, "Except I want you in me instead."

The next morning, Ryuzaki sensei was greeted with an extraordinary sight when she entered the schools changing room in search of her missing team. Her students, her _boys_, all naked as the day they were born, sleeping in a jumbled heap on the floor of the changing room. The coach's eyebrow shot up as she took in the details of the room. Like her quiet, responsible captain sleeping peacefully in the center, head pillowed on Inui's lap, Kaido cuddled up behind him. Tezuka's outstretched arm covered young Echizen in a loose embrace, with Fuji curled up in a tight fetal position around his hips. Momoshiro and Eiji slept untidily sprawled beyond the mass of sleeping boys, while Kawamura and Oishi spooned together in deep slumber. 

Ryuzaki sensei had not been coaching tennis players for over two generations for nothing. She thought wistfully of the amazing recuperative qualities of hormonally charged teenagers for a brief moment, before quietly backing out of the changing room, locking the door behind her as she went. 

~~~

Hello Kind Readers and Reviewers! I was going through all the votes for the final pairing when the alternative ending popped into my head. 

Insane me:        What a perfect way to have _all_ the pairings that people voted for – and then some. laughs manically 

Rational me:      But what about all the stuff I've already got planned? The multiple romantic/ sexy scenes? The chapters with all the other rival school players? The final one-liner gag? You're not going to make me waste all of that for some gratuitous sex orgy, are you?

Insane me:        Hey! What's wrong with gratuitous sex orgies? pouts

Rational me:      Well… Nothing really... scratches head It's just that I've spent so much time plotting everything out…

Insane me:        No fair! You never let me have any fun! tears forming 

Rational me:      All right, all right! Fine, you can post your orgy. I can always pretend it's an exercise to practice writing scenes with multiple partners and actions… But -- glares -- it'll be all _your_ fault if people stop reading the rest of the fic! 

Insane me:        Nyah! does little dance of joy and begins chanting Or-gy! Or-gy! Or-gy! Or-gy!

And there you have it. Not _my fault. It's my evil split personality. And please do continue reading and reviewing… bows solemnly :-)_


	8. Truth VS Grapevine

**The Rumour**

Chapter 7: Truth Vs Grapevine 

Tezuka returned to the privacy of the tennis club's meeting room with an infinitesimal twitch in his face. Now that the crisis is over, and Oishi safely ensconced in the infirmary and resting, Tezuka found his mind circling back to the shouting he'd heard just before Oishi collapsed. _What was it again? Ah, yes,_ _'Atobe, you spawn of evil! Stay away from Buchou's virgin ass, indeed!_ A faint flush rose in Tezuka's face at the _vivid _mental image his obliging mind had thrown up at those words. 

The Seigaku captain took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. _Logic, _Tezuka ordered himself, willing his blush to go away. _Logic is the only thing that could help right now. _

It was definitely Kawamura shouting, Tezuka was certain of that much. And he'd stake everything he'd own on the fact that honest, dependable Kawamura couldn't tell a lie to save his life – both in normal _and_ Burning mode. So, taken at face value, that means – what? That Atobe is here? That Kawamura believes that Atobe was harbouring some kind of …feelings for him? Tezuka struggled past _that_ distracting thought and managed to move on with his line of inquiry. _But that doesn't really make sense either? Why would Atobe tell Kawamura of all people if he has a… thing for me? No, he frowned. _Something is very wrong with this picture. __

Tezuka meditated for another long moment. 

_The problem with the whole thing, Tezuka thought slowly, _is its *timing*. _Oishi expediently bearing him off at that particular time for a discussion at the exact moment Atobe shows up? When Oishi has been avoiding him all week? And shortly after which Kawamura warns Atobe off? __How … convenient. _

And talking about suspicious happenings…Tezuka narrowed his eyes in speculation. _Oishi's avoiding me. Momoshiro blushes every time I talk to him. Eiji's jumpiness. Kaido's abnormal behaviour. The non-regulars' sudden desire to improve their game. The smirks and looks I've been getting from people. _He ticked off a mental list in his head. _Only Inui and Echizen have been behaving more or less normally. _Does this mean that the entire club knew about Atobe and have been keeping it from me all along? __

_No. He rejected that possibility immediately. _For one thing, those hot heads in the team like Momoshiro, Kaido, Kikumaru or even Echizen would never have let that kind of knowledge pass, without some kind of reaction. And I'd have heard about it if any Seigaku player went about challenging Hyotei players. _Tezuka got up and stood by the window overlooking the courts. Something nagged at him. __I'm missing something. But what?  _

Sighing, Tezuka cast his eyes across the diligently practicing club members. He could just about make out the non-regulars playing a practice game. _Those second year players have really improved in this past week, _Tezuka noted absently. _Good form, particularly from Arai and Ikeda._

_Arai… – that's it! It was something Arai had said. The second year non-regular had been even more incomprehensible than usual recently, and Tezuka had been tuning out his non-tennis conversations. But he could have sworn that Arai had said something about given his buchou the best night of his life or something along those lines just recently. Tezuka sat down again, mind racing. Come to think of it, there's been a whole string of strange remarks like that directed at him recently, and not just by Arai either. He'd shrugged them off at the time but now… It was the _way_ they said it. In fact, those remarks now made a skewed sort of sense if taken in context with Kawamura's shouted warning. Seen that way, Kawamura's shout was positively… illuminating. _

Certain things finally fell into place for Tezuka. _This has all the hallmarks of someone's prank, _he thought grimly. Some incredibly subtle prank worthy of, say, a certain tensai in the club? _But why bother with such a weird trick? Why *me*?_ Tezuka thought, feeling perplexed. _Well, there's only one way of finding out,_

Tezuka returned to the courts, and called the regulars to assemble in the corner of Court A, which offered a modicum of privacy. He started without preamble. "I just came from the infirmary. Oishi just collapsed from the stress of the past week. He's feeling better now, but the school nurse told him to rest, so he won't be returning to the courts." 

Anxiety leapt into everyone's face, Eiji's in particular. "Nyah! I'll go see Oishi right away!" Eiji said.  

Tezuka nodded. "Eiji may go visit Oishi, but I want the rest of you to stay back." Eiji ran off in a mad dash. Tezuka watched him go before turning back to the rest of the assembled players. 

"Now, I want to know what have stressed the vice captain of the team so much so that he had to be sent to the infirmary." Light played across Tezuka's glasses. The Seigaku captain had never seemed more ominous. The silence stretched. Slowly, one by one, the Seigaku regulars edged sideways, leaving Fuji alone in the centre. _I have you now, thought Tezuka with grim satisfaction. _

"Well?" Tezuka waited with a single raised eyebrow.

Fuji beamed, his smile unwavering. "Oh, that. I was going to wait till after the ranking tournament to tell you… But since you asked…" Fuji looked at Tezuka, his smile widening as he continued. "I told everyone that the person who beats you in a tennis match would get to date you."

The rest of the regulars turned to watch Tezuka's reaction to that bombshell with bated breath. To their disappointment, Tezuka's expressionless face did not even flinch. 

"And why would you do something like that, Fuji?" Tezuka asked, sounding for all the world like he was simply inquiring after the time.

"I was sure that it would give all the club members further incentive to improve. And I am right, aren't I?" Fuji smiled happily. 

"Nn," Tezuka glanced at the rest of the rest of the regulars. "And you all knew about it?" he asked. 

The regulars shifted uneasily on their feet and chorused in uneasy unison, "Yes, buchou."

Tezuka studied his team mates for a long moment. Finally he spoke. "Since there is such an overwhelming amount of concern over improving the quality of play in the club, I will have Oishi draw up a roster for those people who are going to volunteer an extra hour after every practice to help train the non-regulars. That means you regulars." Tezuka paused and fixed a hard glare at his team mates. There was not a single sound of protest. "And Fuji, you and I are going to have a talk soon. But in the meantime… I want to see everyone running. 100 laps around the courts." His eyes narrowed. "_Now."_

The regulars bolted. Once he was sure that the regulars were out of sight, Tezuka permitted himself the smallest of smiles. __

"Man, this sucks," complained Momoshiro as the regulars jogged around the courts. "And it's all your fault, Fuji-senpai! I promised my parents I'll babysit for them after practice. Now I'm stuck teaching a bunch of first years instead." 

"Mada mada dane." 

"Hey, it's not just me! Doesn't Taka-senpai have to go help his father after practice too?"

"Hss…" 

Fuji simply smiled. "Oh, it's not too bad… After all, Tezuka didn't tell us to stop the match." 

"EH??!"

SOMEWHERE ELSE… 

Oshitari clutched his phone with one hand, and a cold compress to his nose with the other and continued ranting. "… and then the stupid viper just throws that tennis ball at my nose! Have you any idea how much that hurts? It's still swollen and red! And it hurts like crazy too! That's the last time I'm ever going to Seigaku, even if Atobe gets down on his knees and begs me to! I can barely breath as it is! And the stupid Kawamura went crazy all of a sudden and ---" 

A long and laborious hour later, Gakuto finally hung up, rubbing his ear in pain. The knock to Oshitari's nose may have caused some unseen damaged to his mind as well, turning his normally calm and taciturn doubles partner into an incredibly whiny, self-pitying wimp. Gakuto had only managed to escape a two-hour monologue by lying that his mother needed to use the phone. 

But even through most of the conversation was boring stuff about Oshitari's nose, there were _some_ rather interesting nuggets of information about the things Seigaku members got up to with their precious buchou. A sly grin grew on Gakuto's face. _Oshitari__, I've just found the perfect way to payback those Seigaku regulars who'd humiliated you and Atobe buchou. He dug around for his address book, flipped through the pages till he found the right entry and picked the phone up again. _

"Moshi moshi? I'd like to speak to Shinji please."

Ibu Shinji hung up the phone in a state of disbelief. He couldn't believe his ears. _Atobe actually went to profess his love for Tezuka and got himself and Oshitari so badly beaten up that Kabaji had to carry them back to Hyotei? And now he's going to play against Tezuka on Saturday in order to win Tezuka's body?! Wait till Tachibana buchou hears about this! Shinji grabbed his mobile and hit his speed dial. "Hello, Tachibana buchou? This is Shinji… You're not gonna believe what I heard…"_

Tachibana An was just about to leave her house to hang out at the street tennis courts when she spied her older brother standing in the middle of their living room, staring blankly.

"Ni-san? Are you okay?"

Tachibana turned towards his sister and swallowed. "Atobe went to Segaiku today and tried to force himself on Tezuka," he said hoarsely.

"WHAT?!"

"It's true! Shinji heard it from one of the Hyotei players. Fortunately, Kawamura managed to fight him and Oshitari off with a tennis racket just in the nick of time… But now Atobe's sworn to defeat Tezuka again in a tennis match this Saturday, and the stakes will be Tezuka's body!" 

An's mouth dropped open in shock. Her brother continued agitatedly, "I'm not going to let Atobe get away with it. An! Help me call everyone back! I'm calling a special training session to prepare for a fight with Hyotei now!"

"O… okay! I know some of them are already at the street courts! I'll go find them now!" 

"Hurry, An. Hurry!" Tachibana whispered as his sister dashed out. Tachibana looked towards the east – towards Seigaku – with burning eyes. _Tezuka, wait for me! I'm coming!_

As An had predicted, Kamio, Sakurai and Ishida were at their favourite hangout, the street tennis courts. This time round, they'd met up with Rikkai's Marui and Jackal for a round of street doubles, with Kamio refereeing when their buchou's little sister suddenly came running onto the court in the middle of their game. 

"An-chan! You should know better than to come onto the courts in the middle of a game!" shouted Sakurai angrily. 

"It's important!" gasped An. "Ni-san wants all Fudomine players to go back for a special practice… right now!"

"What?" "Why?" Kamio and Ishida asked simultaneously. 

"Oi!" shouted Marui. "Are we still playing or what?" 

"There's an emergency."

Marui and Jackal came up to the net. "What's wrong?" Jackal asked.

An took a deep breath then blurted out, "The Hyotei buchou just raped Tezuka-san! He was caught in the act by Kawamura-san and the other Seigaku players, and barely escaped with his life! Now he's swearing to get his revenge by beating Tezuka in a special tennis match this Saturday! And the worst thing is, if he wins… Tezuka-san will be his forever!" 

"No way!"

"You're kidding?!" 

"Atobe, you dog!" 

"It's true!" insisted An. "Ni-san heard it from Shinji-san, who heard it from one of the Hyotei players! And Ni-san says he's not going to let Atobe get away with it and he's going to fight him for Tezuka-san! That's why he's calling for a special practice! So please, please, just hurry!" 

Kamio, Sakurai and Ishida nodded. "Sorry guys, we have to run. Maybe we can play some time again," offered Kamio as the Fudoumine players began to shoulder their rackets and leave for their training.

"Hey, no worries," shrugged Jackal. As the Fudoumine players vanished, Jackal and Marui exchanged looks. "I still can't believe Atobe did something like that!" exclaimed Jackal.

Marui shrugged. "What do you expect from a guy who _likes_ to go around with his own personal cheerleading squad? Those guys are always the first to snap."

"Hey, let's go find the rest of the guys and tell them the news!" 

The Rikkai players walked away, not noticing two shadowy figures lurking in the background. Mizuki and Yuuta walked forward. "Did you just hear that, Yuuta? I think we can use this piece of data to script a new and interesting play for Seigaku…" Mizuki smirked. 

Back at Rikkai, Marui was just about to finish recounting what they've heard. "So anyway, Atobe buggered Tezuka and got beaten up by the entire Seigaku regulars when they found them. Now Tachibana and Atobe are going to play each other on Saturday, and the winner gets Tezuka as his own personal sex slave!" 

Sanada gave a scornful harrumph. "Tachibana and Atobe? Huh! I've always said that the only person worthy of beating Tezuka is me, Sanada Genichirou!"

"Er, senpai?"

"Yes?"

"What about Yukimaru buchou?" 

"It's all right. He'll understand. After all, it's for the pride of Rikkai Da!" 

"Hai!" 

"Besides, he won't be discharged from the hospital until the end of the month. I've plenty of time, really." 

"…"

And so, the news spread. All through that night, the phone lines between various top junior high tennis players sizzled with the new and delicious rumour about Tezuka. By the time morning dawned, very nearly everyone in the junior high tennis world knew about the play for Tezuka's body (or some variation along the theme). The details of the rumour may vary, but two things remained constant: Saturday at Seigaku. The Match to win Tezuka!

~~~

Sorry for the late update… Was sick (but then again, I was always sick…) er, really flu-sick, that is. Anyway, for the people who liked the last chapter, my evil split personality thanks you. For those who couldn't find the words… don't worry about it. Oh, and you needn't cry or worry about Tezuka… He enjoyed it, really. Says it gives new meaning to the phrase 'team effort' smirks Or maybe he meant that the team that sleeps together, stays together?


	9. The Calm before the Storm

**The Rumour**

Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Storm

Fuji sat alone in the café, his ice cream sundae melting in front of him. He was alone, so there was no one to comment on the fact that the tensai was not smiling. 

_Fuji__ Syusuke was not smiling. _

Had any of the regulars been around, they would have run away screaming at the sight of Fuji _not smiling – or at very least, backed away very carefully. But no one was there. That was the problem, reflected Fuji. Somehow, somewhere, things had not gone according to The Plan. Tezuka was supposed to be with __him now. Not walking Oishi and Eiji home. The quiet captain was supposed to be seated here right now, directly across him, drinking green tea, _talking_ to him. Or more probably, knowing Tezuka, drinking his green tea in silence and listening to Fuji talk. _

Fuji didn't mind either way. Listening or talking, both were fine as long as Tezuka was there. 

The empty seat across Fuji loomed in silent testament to Things Gone Wrong. 

The tensai ran his mind over the day's events. Atobe's appearance wasn't a problem, Fuji had gotten rid of him quickly enough… Truth to tell, it wasn't even a challenge. _So much for Atobe, Fuji thought scornfully. In fact, the only thing Atobe and the regulars' subsequent reactions had done was to bring about Phase Three of his plan even faster than expected. Tezuka __asked for a private talk for him. On his own Fuji-mediated accord. _

Of course, he was a _little disappointed not to have a bigger reaction from Tezuka when he revealed the truth, but it was Tezuka after all. The only other person in the world who could still keep a straight face despite drinking Inui's Special Juice by accident. That was what made things so challenging. _

But. 

_Fuji navigated his way across the prone, panting bodies of the tennis club players after his 100 laps, smiling. "Tezuka? You said you wanted to talk to me? Maybe we should go to the café after practice, it'll be more private, neh?"_

_"Ah, __Fuji__," Tezuka replied, expressionless. "Not today. I am going to walk Oishi back home later and there won't really be enough time. We can talk another day." _

_Fuji__'s smile froze for 0.035 of a second. "Ah, of course." __Fuji__ stopped. "I'll see you tomorrow, then. Ja!" _

_Fuji walked away without a second backward glance, holding on to his smile with all his might._

It wasn't fair. Not for the first time, Fuji wondered what it was about Tezuka that held the tensai in helpless orbit around him. Fuji had known about the power of his smile from a very young age. He could get away with the most outrageous things when smiling. No one could believe evil from the sweetly smiling tensai. He could say things, _do_ things that no one else would get away with – as long as he did them with a smile. Punishment-bearing authorities melted under the full force of Fuji's smile. Fuji was able to manipulate most of the world around him with a soft upward quirk of his lips, and smile-crinkled eyes since he was three years old. Only one person was immune to The Smile.

_He was in his first year of junior high when he first met Tezuka. Eiji had spoken non-stop of his tennis club, the amazing first-year who was able to beat all the third years, and the kid with the weird hairstyle that followed the boy-wonder around like a puppy. Curious, __Fuji__ engineered a meeting with this amazing first year. He'd tried to make the quiet little boy with intelligent grey eyes blush. It didn't work. __Fuji__ had given him up for some kind of emotionally autistic kid who wouldn't know a smile if it hit him in the face. Bored with the lack of success, he was about to leave. Then it happened. _

_He'd turned back to wave goodbye to Eiji when the small figure caught his eye. Tezuka, playing against the strongest third year student. _

_Fuji__ watched enthralled – not by the amazing tennis technique exhibited by the first year player, but by the emotion on his face. The passion. The fierce joy of playing. Exhilaration. Determination. Fuji had stayed on for the rest of the practice, just watching the play of emotions on Tezuka's face as he played match after match. _

_He wasn't emotionally deficit after all, __Fuji__ realised. And the next day, he handed in his application to join the tennis club.  _

Fuji stirred the melted mess of his ice cream sundae. Since that day, he'd spend hours everyday at practice, watching Tezuka. Had become engrossed in tennis, almost against his will. Tezuka had that power, to infect people with his love for the game. He'd played against him, both seriously and for fun – and lost. He couldn't help it, every time he tried to play seriously against Tezuka, Tezuka would start getting that _look on his face, which in turn shoots Fuji's concentration to pieces. And he'd never win Tezuka if he didn't play seriously. Fuji sighed. It's a lose-lose situation when it came to Tezuka. __Never mind. I'll try again tomorrow. Besides, Fuji brightened. T__here's always Yuuta. _

Tezuka deposited Oishi at his home, and left him to the tender mercies of his family and Eiji. He was halfway home, when he suddenly remembered that his grandfather and parents had gone to Hokkaido to attend some distant relative's wedding, and would not be back till next Monday. _There's nothing to eat at home, thought Tezuka wearily. _Hmm, isn't Kawamura's father's sushi shop around here somewhere? Maybe I can grab a quick dinner first before going back._ _

Within minutes, Tezuka found himself in front of Kawamura's family sushi shop. He entered the restaurant. The place was very crowded. 

A waitress came up to Tezuka. "Table of one, sir? I'm afraid you may have to wait for a while." 

"Ah…" Tezuka was deliberating whether or not he should just make do with a fast food meal instead when a sudden shout resounded across the shop. 

"Ah!" Kawamura's father pointed at Tezuka with a huge fillet knife from behind the counter. "You're Kawamura's teacher from Seigaku! Thank you for taking care of my boy!! Wait!" The hearty man turned and shouted to the back of the shop, "Takashi, come down now! Your teacher's here!" 

Tezuka winced slightly. "Kawamura-san, I'm not –"

"Tezuka!" Kawamura came out from behind the shop. "Otousan, this is my school buchou, not my sensei!"

"Eh?!" Kawamura's father did a short double-take. "Ah yes! You told me that before! Sorry! Ah! You came to visit Takashi, right? Ha Ha! Why don't you go on up to Kawamura's room? I'll send someone up with food for both of you!" 

"No, I'm all right," Tezuka protested. Kawamura smiled shyly and repeated his father's invitation. "Yes, come on up to my room, Tezuka! You can have dinner with me! Otousan, Tezuka buchou likes eel soup!" 

"No problem!!" The cheerful chef grinned, brandishing his knife. 

Tezuka gave in. "Thank you very much for your invitation." 

In a short while, Tezuka found himself sitting down in his team mate's room for the first time. He looked around. It was a little smaller than his own, and a little messier, but there was a certain warm inviting feel to it. You could relax in this room, so Tezuka did. Kawamura offered his buchou a glass of tea. 

"Here, Tezuka."

"Thanks." Tezuka took a sip, and looked for somewhere to put the glass down. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened on a small box of bandages and some medication. "For your injury against Kabaji?" Tezuka asked, nodding at the pills. 

Kawamura scratched his head sheepishly. "Y, yes," the third year player admitted. "The doctor said to take the pills if the pain got too much, but it's been okay most of the time."

"Nn. You should take care," Tezuka chastised gently. He looked at his team mate thoughtfully for a moment, then took out a tube of ointment from his bag and handed it to Kawamura. "Here, take this. It's an ointment for muscle and joint fatigue that I've been using. My physiotherapist in Kyushuu just sent me another box of the stuff. It should be quite effective, particularly considering the amount of work you put in."

Kawamura looked down at the tube, at a loss for words. The tube looked small within his large hands.

"Tezuka…" he started, staring at the unexpected gift. "You, you didn't have to get me anything. I mean, I, I already decided… I won't be playing tennis any more after junior high. Maybe you should give it to some other player who'll need it – like, like Momoshiro-kun," Kawamura finished bravely, not quite daring to meet Tezuka's eyes. 

"Nn. So?" Tezuka asked. "Chefs suffer from muscle fatigue too. More than tennis players, probably, what with being on their feet behind the counter all day, and all that repetitive movement making sushi." 

"Tezuka…"

Tezuka looked at Kawamura and gifted him with a rare smile. "No regrets in our final year of junior high, eh, Takashi?"

Kawamura fought back a prickling of tears behind his eyelids. Scenes from the past year flashed across his mind. His father telling him not to let Seigaku team down… The doubles match with Fuji against Fudoumine…The match against Hyotei's Kabaji… The team celebrating their win at the Tokyo District Preliminaries at his father's shop… The team training under Ryuzaki sensei… The team competing…The team running laps around the courts… The team… He opened his eyes and smiled back, a gentle, happy smile. "No," Kawamura agreed, his heart suddenly brimming with contentment. "Ab-so-lute-ly no regrets." 

Kawamura's mother came in shortly after that, bearing a large trayful of steaming food. After an exchange of polite niceties where Kawamura's mother thanked Tezuka for taking care of her son in tennis, apologised for any trouble that Takashi — _that big silly boy — got into, and where Tezuka informed Kawamura's mother that no, her son was no trouble at all, and was a credit to the school team and thanked the Kawamura family for inviting him and for the great dinner which smells _wonderful_, the buchou and the Burning power player settled down for dinner. _

As promised, there was eel soup. And it was good. 

~~~

Ohaiyo! waves Thank you for all the reviews… Also, I've decided on the ending. big grins Just one more chapter to go… This is going to be fun!

Oh, just one more thing, I'm not crazy, I'm only mildly insane. Really! Just see my email handle! 


	10. Fight! Seigaku! Fight!

**The Rumour**

Chapter 9: Fight! Seigaku! Fight!

Tezuka walked towards the school tennis courts feeling relatively happy, all things considered. The first day of the ranking tournament was held yesterday and the performance was more than what both Tezuka and Ryuzaki-sensei had hoped for. Suddenly, a loud hail greeted him from behind.

"Oy! Tezuka!" Oishi and Eiji came running towards him, racket bags swinging from their shoulders. All of them were already dressed in their tennis gear, since it was a Saturday and there were no classes. 

"Good morning!" Oishi greeted his friend with a smile. "Good matches from the non-regulars all round yesterday, wasn't it?" 

"Nyah! I can't believe Ikeda and Arai took three games from us!" Eiji pouted for a moment, then brightened. "Still, it's a good sign for Seigaku's chances next year!" He looped an arm around Tezuka's neck and grinned. "Now our buchou's happy! Nyah? Nyah?"

A tiny smile lurked at Tezuka's lips, ready to vanish at a moment's notice. "They weren't bad," he admitted. Then the smile vanished, and the stern buchou took over. "But today's the ranking tournament for regulars. Are you ready?"

"Hoi, hoi! No worries!" The red head turned into hyper mode as he spotted a familiar figure just ahead of them. He waved frantically. "Hey Fuji! Wait for us!" 

The tensai smiled cheerfully in greeting and waited for his friends. "Good morning!" His smile was perhaps just a fraction wider than usual. Eiji chattered on cheerfully. "Get ready for the Kikumaru Special Beam! I'm going to beat all of you today – Nyah! What's happening?! There's so many people around the courts!" 

The boys looked forward. Eiji was right. There _were_ a lot of people milling about the entrance to their courts.

Oishi squinted a little, a tall carrot-head boy caught his eye. "Ah… Isn't that Yamabuki's Sengoku-san?" he asked hesitantly. 

"Hoi, hoi! And there's Kabaji and Atobe! And Rikkai's Sanada and Yanagi and Niou too!" Eiji's bright eyes blinked and swept across the crowd rapidly. He continued to list happily, "Nyah! I see St. Rudolph's uniforms – Fuji! It's Yuuta! Hoy! Yuuta! – ah, and Rokkaku and Fudoumine are here too!"

Beside them, Fuji's smile froze._ Impossible! What are they doing here! They couldn't all have heard about the match! Fuji thought frantically. An unknown feeling called _panic_ was welling up from his chest and up into his throat. _

By this time, the people closest to them had noticed their approach. A chorus of catcalls and whistles resounded through the air. 

_"Tezuka baby!"___

_"Oi!__ Seigaku buchou! Looking good!"_

_"Your ass is gonna belong to our buchou!!"_

Oishi and Eiji gave all of them a single, horrified look. Then their heads snapped back in unison to look at Tezuka and Fuji. Fuji had gone just a little bit pale, and there was something forced about his smile. But Tezuka… 

If Eiji had ever thought his buchou expressionless before, he was wrong. _Stone-faced._ Unmoving. Cold as ice. _These expressions came into Eiji mind and were discarded. Some stones can be quite friendly, especially to women, according to Eiji's older sisters. And standing beside a glacier in the heart of Antarctica would be warmer. If Eiji had to choose a word to describe the Seigaku captain right now… he'd pick __implacable. Also, maybe, _terrifying, spine-chilling _and _murderous._ Eiji swallowed and immediately ducked behind Oishi for protection. _

Oishi gulped audibly. "Eh… Tezuka?" His voice rose alarmingly on the last syllable.

There was no visible response; Tezuka simply stared straight ahead, not even bothering to glare at the quiet pale presence beside him. 

Fuji breathed out, a soft exhalation, almost a sigh. "It wasn't supposed to be this way." The words came out quietly, as if pulled from a deep void from within the tensai. 

There was still no response. 

Around them, news of Tezuka's arrival had spread like wildfire among the crowd. The four boys endured various pointing, and whispers, and outright wolf-whistles. Then, people began to move through the crowd towards them. 

Like the sun pulling bright comets into its orbit, the rival school buchous came, alone and in pairs, to stand in challenge before an unmoved Tezuka. 

Atobe, bright and brave, with only the slightest hint of vulnerability to be found in his eyes. Behind him loomed the huge figure of Kabaji and a score of Hyotei players in their white, grey and blue uniforms. 

Sengoku came alone, a perpetual smile adorning his face. He stood comfortably, hands tucked into his pocket. 

Sanada stood with the assurance of a king, the katana-sharp gleam of steely resolve only slightly blunted under the cover of his cap. He was flanked by Yanagi and Niou, one hiding behind half-lidded eyes, and the other shielded by the eternal smile of the joker who knows the joke no one else got. 

Akazawa presented himself, proud and confident and feline in his grace, while Mizuki stood beside him, smirking and twirling a lock of his hair around his finger. 

Aoi Kentarou, the Rokkaku first year buchou stood, scratching his head a little sheepishly, feeling slightly out-of-place amidst the third-year buchous around him. His third year senpais flanked him, grinning. 

And finally, Tachibana… The tall buchou stood amidst his team mates, his determination and resolve shouted across every line of his body. His eyes were alternatively fierce and gentle, as they moved over his rivals and rested on Tezuka's form. _I will win this for you._ His eyes seemed to be say as he gazed at the Seigaku buchou. 

It was a strangely beautiful tableau, the fairest flowering of players of Japan's junior tennis world, gathered around Tezuka's still figure. 

Sanada was the first to break the silence, his words unexpectedly formal. "We have come to play a match of tennis with you, Tezuka," he said, as a king would speak to a touchy crown prince.  

Tezuka was silent. Around him, the remaining Seigaku regulars – indeed, all the club members – were moving, eeling their way through the crowd to stand behind their buchou like a solid human bulwark. 

Sanada frowned into the ensuing silence. "We are here to play against you," He repeated, displeasure beginning to colour his words. 

"_Well, you can't_," said a loud, brash voice fiercely. Horio-kun pushed past a few tall Hyotei players to stand directly in front of Tezuka. He stood face thrust up pugnaciously at Sanada. Kachirou-kun and Katsou-kun clung to each other timidly, but followed behind their friend nevertheless, their faces set in equal terrified determination. 

Horio-kun glared belligently at Sanada, "You're _supposed to beat one of our Seigaku regulars _first_, before you get a chance to play against Tezuka buchou! Don't you know __anything?" The short, loud-mouthed first-year student managed to tilt his head up and sneered defiantly at the astonished Rikkai acting captain. _

A large hand lifted, then descended gently on Horio's spiky head – almost in approval. "He's right," Inui said matter-of-factly, as he came and stood beside Horio. "Tezuka's only just recovered from his injury, and as manager, I certainly can't approve of him having to face matches with all of you."

His words sparked a frown on Atobe's face. "I don't know what you're talking about. We were supposed to play against Tezuka. Not some Seigaku regular."

A new voice broke in this time. "If you want to get to Tezuka buchou, then first you must get through us," snapped Momoshiro, as he walked up to stand beside Inui. Kaido stood behind him, hissing softly. 

Regular, manager, and first-year stood in a line before Tezuka, putting themselves between the rival school captains and their buchou. 

"Che. Mada mada dane," snorted Ryouma inelegantly as he too slouched towards the line to stand by Horio. 

"Well?" Inui asked, adjusting his glasses. 

"Fine!" Atobe bit out. Around him, all the other captains were nodding their agreement. 

"Thank you," Inui replied coolly. "Now, you might want to go warm up first while we make some preparations…" 

The crowd slowly dispersed, leaving a knot of Seigaku regulars gathered around Tezuka. 

"Eh… Buchou? You okay?" Momoshiro turned around and asked awkwardly, looking for all the world like a kid caught in the act of doing something he wasn't' supposed to. 

Finally, something cracked in Tezuka's unmoving visage. "I. Will. Deal. With. All. Of. You. Later." Tezuka spoke slowly, articulating each word precisely in a tone that promised to bring down retribution on all their heads. The gathered regulars gulped, with the exception of Fuji, who remained pale and silent. 

"In the meantime… you should all be warming up. Nishi! Mikami! Nagayama! Go to each school and confirm their players! Oishi! Inui! You two work out the match lineups! The rest of the second year players, put up the nets and clear the courts! First years! Take care of the tennis balls!" Tezuka snapped out a series of commands. 

Oishi and the rest of the regulars exchanged glances. _At least Tezuka's back to normal again!_ They thought, relieved. 

"The rest of you! Warming up! Now"

"Hai! Buchou!" The Seigaku tennis club members _moved. _

After ten minutes spent conferring with each other, Oishi and Inui brought out the white board with the proposed match line-up and were nearly bowled over by the rush of regulars eager to check out their prospective competitors. 

"What?!" 

"Aww.. I'm playing the Rokkaku freshman buchou? Man, why am I always stuck with the gaki!" Momoshiro moaned. Beside him, Ryouma twitched in annoyance. 

"Momo! Don't lose to someone I've already beaten," growled Kaido in the strange deep voice he has. 

"Right back at you, Kaido!" Momoshiro grinned, stretching his arms behind his back. "Sengoku's pretty good, you know!"

"So… I'm playing Atobe," A gleam flashed across Fuji's eyes, before disappearing into another smile. 

"Me and St. Rudolph's Mizuki?? Nyah, what kind of lineup is this? Hey, Inui!" Eiji grumbled, twisting his racket this way and that. "I don't want to play against that horrible person!"

Inui adjusted his glasses. "Can't be helped. I've planned the matches according to the best winning probabilities. The more 'sure-wins' we can get, the less tiring it would be for Tezuka at the end –,"

"Inui-senpai," Momoshiro broke in with a confident voice. "We won't lose!" 

"Yoosh!" Eiji grinned. "Momo-chan is right!" Just then, his attention was caught by the final line-ups. "Eh? What's this? Ochibi! You're playing two matches?! And they're both difficult ones too!"

Oishi blushed slightly. "Yes. It's all my fault. I kind of overdid yesterday…"

"Oishi hasn't fully recovered from his collapse two days ago, and compounded matters by playing too vigorously yesterday. I think it is best if he sat this one out," said Inui. 

"Sorry… Echizen, I'll depend on you to help cover for me," Oishi said, looking apologetic. 

Ryouma merely smirked. "The more, the merrier." He stuck his racket over his shoulder. "I'm ready." 

Inui nodded. "Echizen-kun, I'm putting your match with Sanada first, and the match with Tachibana last. Hopefully, that will give you some extra time to recover between matches.

"All right then! Let's go!" The Seigaku regulars walked out into the light. 

Eiji bounced up to where Mizuki and Yuuta were standing. "Nyah! Come on, Mizuki! It's you and me on Court A."

Mizuki smiled. "So… I'm playing against Kikumaru-kun. Fine, give me a minute. I need to go change."

"Eh?" Eiji and Yuuta stared at the St. Rudolph manager. 

"Ah, Mizuki-senpai, you're already wearing the St. Rudolph tennis uniform," Yuuta said carefully. 

"Ah, this? No, no. I've prepared special outfits to wear, depending on who it is I play today," the dark-haired manager smirked. 

_Come to think of it, Mizuki-senpai was carrying a huge bag today. Yuuta felt a sensation of foreboding descend. __Please, please, let him wear something normal… Yuuta prayed. But deep down, he knew that it was a futile hope. His Mizuki-senpai had a tendency to wear, ah, interesting outfits, to say the least. His dorm mates thanked God everyday that St. Rudolph's had a strict uniform rule… It meant that they were only inflicted with Mizuki's fashion sense for the few remaining hours every night. Yuuta still had the occasional nightmare about the black-with-large-pink-roses shirt his senpai wore in the dorm a couple of months ago after their defeat at the Tokyo Prefecture Tournaments. He swallowed. But this wasn't a school outing. _There was no uniform to save him and the rest of the world now. __

A soft murmuring started across the crowd. Mizuki walked towards Court A, leaving a large swath of dropped jaws and boggling eyes in his wake. The black haired boy was wearing a _hot pink sleeveless top with large neon green bobbles attached_, paired with matching frilly pink and green shorts. Yuuta flinched. Daily exposure to Mizuki's sartorial fashion sense in the dorms every night had given him some small measure of immunity to the outfits Mizuki sometimes wear, but this… Yuuta could feel his hard-won immunity slipping slowly out of his grasp. He clenched his hands into fists, trying to control his trembling.

Beside him, Eiji – and the rest of the people present – had no such immunity or control. Eiji screamed. 

"AAAAHHHH! WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" In the face of the extreme provocation, all of Eiji's usual speech mannerisms had vanished. "I'M NOT GOING ON THE SAME COURT AS THAT FREAK! NEVER! NOOO WAY!"

"Ah? Are you forfeiting your match then, Kikumaru-kun?" Mizuki smiled and twirled a lock of his hair. 

"Eiji!" Oishi ran to his doubles partner's side upon hearing the scream. "What's wrong?" Then he saw Mizuki. The sight left him speechless for a good minute. Oishi's jaw worked, but no sounds emerged. 

Eiji screwed up his eyes, as if to cry. "Oishi! I don't wanna play him!"

Finally, Oishi found his voice. "E… Eiji, you, you have to… think about Tezuka!"  

"But, Oishi…" Eiji whimpered. "The horror…"

Oishi took Eiji's face between his large strong hands and gently forced the redhead to look him in the eye. "Eiji. You must be strong. I believe in you." 

Eiji desperately soaked up the sight of Oishi's face, his smile, hoping to use the gentle image to fortify him against the monstrosity that was so recently burned into his retina. Finally, he looked away and shot a terrified glance at Mizuki. He immediately looked back up at Oishi. _His Oishi._ Counting on him._ "I… I'll try," Eiji whispered, lower lip trembling. _

Oishi smiled. "That's great," he murmured, hand brushing through Eiji's unruly locks. "I'll be watching you the whole time by the sidelines." 

"Hurry, before I change my mind again…" said Eiji, desperately blinking back tears. 

The first three games were a rout. Eiji simply couldn't shake off the horror that was facing him in the opposite court, and Mizuki pushed his advantage to the brink. Eiji did not manage to score a single point against him. 

Eiji collapsed on the side bench that was hastily erected for the players. "Oishi…" He moaned, leaning into his partner. "I can't. Really, I can't… He, _he _*_jiggles*_…" With a cry, Eiji buried his face against Oishi's strong chest.

Oishi simply hugged his suffering partner closer. He looked up to find Inui standing behind them. "Ah, this is really bad," said Inui, flipping through his ever present notebook. "Mizuki exploits the fact that Kikumaru has better-than-average sports vision through the cunningly placed bobbles on his shirt, causing them to jiggle as they move and creating greater stress on his vision. And of course, we shouldn't underestimate the overall, devastating impact of his outfit. This is Mizuki's Double Whammy Attack." 

Oishi looked helplessly at the Data Tennis expert. "Neh, Inui, what can we do? Eiji can't continue like this…"

Inui adjusted his glasses. "I don't have sufficient data on this…" The tall player's lips thinned. "I can't be sure if this will work, but there just might be something you can try…"

"What is it?" Oishi asked.

"They say… Love is _blind."_

Oishi stared. Then understood. He blushed. Finally, Oishi took a deep breath and stood, pulling Eiji along with him. Eiji looked up at Oishi, disorientated, eyes still wet with tears. "O– Oishi?" 

Oishi put an arm around Eiji's waist, and bending him nearly halfway backwards, kissed the heck out of one Kikumaru Eiji. 

Finally, the kiss ended, to the sounds of various catcalls around them. Oishi whispered softly amidst the shouting and cheers. "Win, Eiji. And then come back for me." He gently pushed his partner towards the court. 

Eiji, still seeing stars and hearts spinning around him, nodded dumbly. 

He could never remember the rest of the game after that – just the impact of Oishi's lips pressed against his. Somehow, his body took over on automatic pilot, fielding shots, performing incredible feats of Acrobatic Play.  

Inui scribbled happily in his notebook, then closed it with a snap. _Yii__ Data. He called out to the second-year member keeping record, "Six games to three! Kikumaru Eiji wins!" _

Inui adjusted his glasses again. Maybe he would be in time to catch Kaido's match as well. 

Kaido won, 6-4 beating Sengoku in a hard, long fight. 

Momoshiro took the game against Kentarou, 7-5, despite Kentarou's last minute rally.

Echizen also had a hard fight, but managed to beat Sanada back, 7-5. 

Over in Court C, Kawamura was preparing for his own match against St. Rudolph's Akazawa. Carefully, he unwrapped a white-silk wrapped package and placed it upon the bench.

"Taka-senpai, what is that?" Katsou-kun asked. He was one of the first years taking charge of ball-recovery on Court C. "Eh? Ointment for muscle fatigue?! Taka-senpai, aren't you feeling well? Are you okay?"

"Ah… Eh…" Kawamura blushed faintly and scratched the back of his head. 

Fuji walked up to them, with racket in hand, "Taka-san, you left your racket behind again."

Kawamura took the racket. 

"BURNNINNG! I'M LUCKY TODAY WITH A PRESENT FROM MY BABY! COME ON LET'S GO!!"

Kawamura won, 6-5. 


	11. The Golden Match

**The Rumour**

Chapter 10: The Golden Match

At last, the last three matches between challenger and regular was about to take place. Fuji's match against Atobe will take place concurrently with Inui's match with Niou, leaving Echizen time to rest before his match with Tachibana. The regulars who had already finished their own matches began to gather in front of the courts, Echizen among them. 

"Ah! What's happening? Seigaku having matches with the best tennis players around?" A loud male voice hailed them from behind. 

"Inoue-san! What are you doing here!?"

"Ah, that. I got a call this morning, asking me to come to Seigaku," explained the reporter. "Something about a last minute invitation from the Gratuitous Exposition Provider/Character Association to take Inui-kun's place while he's busy with his own match. I didn't really understand anything from that phone conversation, but I thought it wouldn't do any harm to just drop by, since I was in the area anyway… And look, there is certainly a great deal happening here." He smiled. 

In the court before them, Fuji and Atobe were preparing to face off. Atobe tried to co-ordinate Hyotei's cheers again, but was defeated by the sheer amount of boos from the audience. 

Fuji smiled. "You should have brought more people. You're outnumbered, not just by Seigaku members, who all hate you for hurting Tezuka by the way, but also by the rest of the schools."

Atobe shrugged. "I'll get the cheers later, when I win."

Fuji smiled. "Really?" A single leave floated on the wind, passing in front of Fuji, who plucked it out of the air. "Ah," he sighed. "Just leaves? I guess I'll have to try harder then." 

Atobe frowned. 

"Leaves?" Horio-kun turned to Inoue-san. "What is Fuji-senpai talking about?"

Inoue pondered for a moment. "I think he's just taunting Atobe-kun," he said, after some consideration.

"Taunting?"

"Mm, yes. Quite a lot of players use it as a form of psychological attack, even before the match starts. By taunting their opponent, they are sometimes able to provoke them into anger, making it easier for them to make mistakes that can be exploited. Of course, you may not have seen it often here in Seigaku, since Tezuka is too much of a sportsman to indulge in antics like this. I must say I'm a little surprised that Fuji is doing it too."

"Ah, so…"

Momoshiro nudged Oishi in the side and said, sotto voice. "I think I understand why the Gratuitious Exposition people invited him here now."

Oishi nodded and neglected to mention that he's also a card-carrying member of said organisation. "Hm, now that Inui is playing, we need an expert to help explain things to people like Horio-kun in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. Shush now, they're starting." 

Fuji served and took the game in straight aces with his Magical Disappearing Ball Slice Shot. Atobe regrouped with hard-hitting smashes and took the second game.

Meanwhile, in the next court, the match between Inui and Niou was also raging on. Niou ripped off a hard smash, only to find Inui already waiting to counter with a drop shot of his own.

"What--?! How do you know where I'm going to hit?!" Niou panted, dashing for the ball and countering with a volley. 

Inui came back with a power return with pin-point precision to the left corner of the court and smirked. "Data is data. And even in your unpredictable movements, there is some pattern, Niou the trickster – or, should I say, _Yagyuu__ the _Gentleman_?" _

Niou – no, Yagyuu gasped. The ball bounced off into the back of the court, unheeded. "How could you tell? Even Sanada didn't know we swopped places!" 

Inui grinned and adjusted his glasses. "I already told you, data is data. No matter how well you manage to impersonate Niou, you still can't hide the fact that your chest size is 8.3mm larger, and that your ass is 7% tighter than Niou's." He smirked and his eyes dropped down to Yagyuu's crotch. "Should I go on?"

Yagyuu fought the compulsion to curl into a fetal position and hide somewhere. Like in a hole twenty feet deep.

"EEHH?!"

"Inui-senpai is great! Wow! I can't believe how detailed his data collection gets!"

"Go, Inui-senpai! Go, Data Tennis!"

Behind the excited, cheering freshmen, the second year students were also marvelling at Inui's methods. 

"I wonder how he grades people's ass?" one mused. 

"_I_ wonder how he gets his data on all those proportions?" 

There was a moment's silence. The two second year students exchanged looks and shifted uncomfortably. 

"Never mind."

"Uh, yeah. Never mind." 

Fuji won handily, 6 games to Atobe's four, with a number of well-timed remarks on the fact that he was prettier than Atobe and even better-placed volleys while Atobe was busy spluttering for air. 

Yagyuu forfeited after the sixth time he caught Inui eyeing his crotch. He pleaded emotional distress to Sanada, who forgave him for losing the match but not for swopping places with Niou without permission. 

And then, finally, it was Echizen's match with Tachibana. 

The trees rustled. The sun shone. A ball bounced off the court and descended outside the line. 

"Game, 7 to 6 (9-7)!" The referee announced, fighting back emotions. 

Before them, Tachibana looked up to the sky, arms outstretched, while Ryouma remained kneeling on the court, head lowered. A single sweat drop – or was it a tear? – slid down his face and splashed on the green court between his knees.  

"_Ochibi… __lost…?" said Eiji incredulously. _

"That – That's because he's tired from his first match with Sanada! We should never have put him up again!" Momoshiro shouted angrily, pounding his fist against the fence. 

"No," Inui disagreed. "That isn't the only reason. Tachibana-kun is incredibly strong – he must have trained even harder ever since his defeat against Rikkai. His mental power and determination is invincible today."

"His will to win is incredible," said Atobe seriously.

"Yes," Sanada agreed. "Maybe… If we had met this Tachibana in the Kantou Tournament, things may be different. Maybe." 

"Neh," whispered Katsou-kun softly. "Is Ryouma-kun… _crying?_"

A tall figure quietly detached himself from the group of observers and slowly walked towards the kneeling Ryouma. He stood before the boy, the focus of every eye around and said in a quiet voice. "Echizen?"

More tears splashed on the floor. 

Tezuka sighed. _His future pillar of Seigaku was only twelve after all. Tezuka crouched down in front of Ryouma, and said as gently as he could for the first time. "Ryouma-kun?" His voice made it almost like a verbal caress. _

Ryouma looked up at Tezuka, his golden eyes brimming with tears. He bit his lip. "Buchou!" Ryouma finally burst, throwing himself at Tezuka, his cap knocked off in the process. The small thin boy hugged Tezuka fiercely as he sobbed against his buchou's comforting chest. 

Tezuka was dumbfounded. He stared down at the boy shaking in his arms. He has never been asked to comfort anyone in his entire life and had no idea what to do. But Tezuka could feel the front of his shirt getting wet as Ryouma's tears soaked through. 

Slowly, hesitantly, Tezuka's arms came up and around Ryouma. He hugged the younger boy lightly for a long moment. After a while, he began to pat Ryouma awkwardly on the back.

Ryouma could not stop crying. 

(Behind them, unnoticed, Atobe was starting to froth at the mouth. "Tezuka… Is… Hugging… Gaki…." He gasped, spitting white frothy bubbles at everyone around him. "He's only _comforting Echizen because he's crying," corrected Fuji sharply, all smiles gone. "__Comforting…" Fuji glared at Ryouma, his blue eyes shooting daggers.) _

Tezuka continued patting Ryouma on the back; he was starting to feel a little desperate. This comforting business was _difficult_. And the kid would not stop crying. He looked around and sent Oishi a non-verbal SOS, communicated through just a slight widening of his eyes. 

Oishi, the dependable mother of the club, got the message and sprinted up. He knelt by his buchou and youngest charge. "Ryouma? It's okay… Don't cry," Oishi murmured comfortingly. "Come here…" He took the crying Ryouma from Tezuka (who heaved a sigh of relief at the release) and helped him up. "There, there… It's okay to lose as long as you've tried your best." 

Ryouma sobbed, rubbing his fist against his eyes. "But I wanted to help buchou – be Seigaku's pillar for him—"

Tezuka sighed. He put one hand against Ryouma's cheek, wiping off his tears with a lightly callused thumb. "Ryouma…" 

Ryouma looked up; he quieted down as he drowned in Tezuka's deep grey eyes looking at him.

"…good match." Tezuka said finally.  

Ryouma fought back more tears, and nodded. "Arigato." He managed.

Oishi quietly helped Ryouma back to the sidelines. 

Tezuka looked around to find Tachibana waiting quietly for him across the net.

"Is Echizen going to be all right?" Tachibana asked.

Tezuka nodded. "I think so." He returned Tachibana's gaze. "So, Tachibana-san. After everything that has happened, we finally get to play each other." 

Tachibana looked down shyly. "You can call me Kippei."

"Nn. All right. I'm Kunimitsu,"

"I know…" 

A flurry of cherry blossom petals swirled by in slow drifts between the two captains. Tachibana, tall, tanned and still breathing heavily after his exhausting match with Ryouma. Tezuka, pale, slender in contrast to his well built opposite, his skin glowing like ivory in the light. The delicate pink petals floated past, scenting the air with its sweet tender fragrance.  

Ibu Shinji stared at his buchou and the Seigaku buchou from the side. He nudged Momoshiro, the only Seigaku student near him. "Is that sakura petals there?"

Momoshiro shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"I didn't know your school had a cherry blossom tree."

"Ah… Actually, I don't think we do…"

"Then where did those petals come from?"

"Dunno. Maybe the wind blew them over? Anyway, who cares about some stupid flower? Your buchou's going to play my buchou!" Momoshiro said, irritated, before stalking off to stand beside Kaido, who at least had the advantage of being quiet.

Shinji muttered, "I'm only asking because I didn't see any Sakura trees the last time I was here. I can't help it if I am from the Fudoumine Gardening Society. And anyway, isn't it the wrong season for Sakura to be flowering? Is this some kind of freak flowering tree? And how come there are so many petals? And why is it that they're only falling on Tachibana buchou and Tezuka? I like Sakura too. Sakura petals should be non-discriminatory and fall on everyone, not just on handsome buchous. Someone's not being fair here. I hate it when that happens," Shinji continued to mutter softly about the unfair nature of cherry blossom petals beneath his breath. 

Back at the court, unknown to Shinji, Tezuka was wondering much the same thing. _Where the hell did all these petals come from? He wondered, eyeing the petals around him. Tachibana didn't much care. Instead, he was too engrossed in the beauty of Tezuka standing amidst falling cherry blossoms petals. _

After a long awkward moment, Tezuka stepped up to the net, holding out his hand to Tachibana. "Let's play a good match." He cleared his throat. "Kippei."

"Eh, yes! Let's. Kunimitsu." Tachibana couldn't help lingering on those four little syllables and the feeling of Tezuka's hand in his. 

Tezuka fought the urge to shudder and disengaged, stepping back hastily. He picked up Ryouma's abandoned racket. "All right. Let's play!" 

He headed towards the back of the court. 

Back at the sidelines, Oishi had deposited Ryouma on the bench and was about to look for some water for his young kouhai when he was stopped by Inoue. 

"Is he all right?" asked the concerned reporter. 

"Well, okay, I guess. He's still pretty upset, but more for disappointing Tezuka than the actual loss, I think." 

"Well, you can't blame him," said Inoue sagely. "Tezuka-kun's probably more of a role model and better father figure than his own dad! No wonder Ryouma-kun cares more about disappointing Tezuka-kun."

"His dad…? You mean, Echizen Nanjiroh? But I thought he was your idol, Inoue-san."

"For tennis, yes. I think Samurai Echizen is the best player to come out of Japan. But as a father? A man?" Inoue shrugged. "Look at it from Ryouma's point of view. No doubt his father had taught him and groomed him into a great player, but that's for tennis only! If you had grown up with a loud-mouthed, irresponsible, lazy, perverted, girlie-magazine-reading, no-good account of a father, and was suddenly given an intelligent, upright, honest, quiet, responsible, good-looking young buchou as a mentor, who would you choose? If I am Ryouma-kun, I'd go for Tezuka-kun too instead of that old pervert."

"_Is that right_?" A new voice drawled.

"E—Echizen Nanjirou?! What are you doing here!"

"Apparently, being a bad role model for my son," snarked Nanjirou. He scratched his beard absently. "So, where is this wonderful Tezuka-kun? I'd like to meet this outstanding young man who's taught my son so much." 

Oishi stepped out. "Er, I'm afraid Tezuka-buchou's in the middle of a match, right now, Echizen-san…"

Nanjirou looked out to the courts. "No he's not. They haven't started yet." He strode past Oishi and Inoue and went into the court, ignoring their and Ryouma's cries to stop.

Tachibana and Tezuka stared at this strange monk with unkempt hair and beard who'd just crashed their match. "Yo!" Nanjirou greeted Tachibana cordially. "Tezuka-buchou, is it? Thank you for taking care of my son." His eyes took in every detail. _Huh, he's not as goodlooking as me! What is that stupid Inoue talking about? Being responsible's not that big a deal anyway._

Tachibana stared, "Er, I'm Tachibana. Tezuka's over there."

Nanjirou looked over. _Shit._

"Well, I bet he's not that good at tennis as me, anyway," he said out loud. "Young man! Lend me your racket!"

"What?!"  Tachibana asked in shock. 

"Oi! Old man, what are you doing?!" Ryouma shouted from the sidelines.   
Nanjirou grinned, bearing his teeth. "Playing tennis, gaki! Watch and learn, watch and learn!"

Tachibana's mouth set in a hard line, "Look, old man! I don't know who you are but this is my match! I've been waiting for this for too long, and no one is going to stop me today!"

Nanjirou pointed to the side and looked shocked. "Look over there!"

Tachibana turned. Nanjirou swooped down and lifted the racket from Tachibana's hand. "Hah! You can't even hold on to your racket. Why don't you be a good boy and watch your betters play instead?"

Tachibana snapped at last. Launching himself at Nanjirou's throat, the beleaguered Fudoumine captain shouted, "IT'S NOT FAIR! WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY?! I WON'T LET YOU STOP ME YOU STUPID OLD MAN!"  

As the Fudoumine poured onto the court to pull their buchou off Nanjirou, Tachibana finally broke down, crying. "It's not fair. Some god up there must really hate me! I was so close… I was so close… KUNIMITSU!" 

Kamio looked at Nanjirou and Tezuka and said apologetically. "Ah… Sorry. I think our buchou's under a lot of stress. We'll forfeit this match." 

"Nn."

Nanjirou picked himself off the ground, brushing the cherry blossoms off his robe. "So, Tezuka-buchou. Let's play."

Tezuka shrugged indifferently. At this point, he didn't really much care what happens any more. After all, it could hardly get worse. "Fine," he said. "Let's just get this over and done with. Best 2 out of 3 games. I get to serve. If you've got problems with this… Well, _tough_. " 

"Oooh, the buchou's got balls!" 

Tezuka served. Nanjirou countered. Tezuka zone met Nanjirou zone and clashed. By the end of forty minutes, Tezuka had secured one game with his Zero shiki drop, while Nanjirou took the other game with a series of hard hitting smashes. It was the third game, and the players were at deuce. The next person to score the next two points would win.

Tezuka was perspiring. His shoulder and elbow ached, but the pain wasn't too bad. He gritted his teeth. _Just two more points. Time for my ultimate, ultimate secret move. Tezuka took a deep breath… and began to glow. _

The golden light started at his left, racket holding hand and spread rapidly across his body. 

The crowd gasped. 

"What is that light, Inoue-san?" Horio, Katsuo and Kachirou asked in unison as they gazed upon Tezuka

Inoue stared open-mouthed. "I, I don't know," he stuttered. 

Oishi looked sombrely at the glowing Tezuka. "It's Tezuka's secret move. Tezuka's Ultimate Golden Glowing Technique. I've only seen it once, and that was when Tezuka played Echizen privately."

Ryouma lowered his cap and continued to stare aptly at Tezuka. 

Fuji sighed and took up the explanation. He looked at Tezuka as he explained softly to the listening boys around him. "It's like the afterglow people get after sex, but powered up by about a million times. Tezuka is able to channel all his mental strength and considerable sexual urges into a sort of total body orgasm characterised by this golden light. As long as Tezuka is able to maintain the light, anyone watching would be completely attracted to him. At this point, Tezuka can hit any kind of ball anywhere and be able to score points, for no one is able to watch anything else but him.

"Eiji, you must have seen Ryouma do something like that before?" 

Eiji nodded absently, eyes fixed to the glowing Tezuka. "Uh, yeah. I think I saw our ochibi glow for a split second during his match with Akutsu… but only for a very short time. I thought it was a trick of the light then."

Fuji smiled. "That's because Ryouma hasn't mastered the full technique. Also, he's still young, and doesn't have the same store of urges that Tezuka has…"

"Amazing…" 

Eyes glued to Tezuka, everyone watched as Tezuka served. POW! The ball powered through the air, hitting the ground beside Nanjirou. _Why, he's so… pretty, thought Nanjirou in shock. _

"Ad… Advantage, Server."

Tezuka sighed and stretched his shoulder. Everyone watched him aptly. There was utter silence on the court. 

He got into the pose, and his hand began to glow again. 

"No way! He's doing twice in a row!" someone gasped.

"Man, my shorts are getting really tight!" someone else groaned. 

Glowing, Tezuka delivered his second serve. Again, it flew past a stunned Nanjirou. 

"Game! Two games to one! Tezuka WIN!"

The crowd erupted into total madness. 

"TEZUKA!"

"BUCHOU!" 

The Seigaku regulars descended like a horde onto Tezuka. "Group hug!" Someone shouted. And everyone piled onto Tezuka, most getting a grope in at the same time. 

Finally, Tezuka managed to break free of his overly enthusiastic team mates. "That's why I hate using this technique," he muttered, pulling his shirt together. 

"Tezuka! Well done!" A new female voice broke in. 

"Ryuzaki-sensei!"

"Yes, I've been watching everything from my office. Well done, everybody." She then turned to Tezuka. "Congratulations, Tezuka. You have single-assedly raised the quality of junior high tennis to new heights," congratulated Ryuzaki sensei. 

The entire Seigaku team turned and stared at the grey-haired coach. "Oh? Did I say single-assedly? My bad. I meant single-handedly, single-handedly of course!" laughed Ryuzaki sensei. 

Everyone face faulted. 

-fin-

I know. My bad too! giggles


	12. Aftermath 1

**The Rumour**

The Aftermath Part 1 (Wherein the Regular-tachi Realise It Is A Bad Thing To Get Their Buchou Angry)

It was the Monday after the fateful Match. The dying afternoon light flooded the office with a warm orange glow. Tezuka stood in the middle of the room, arms clasped behind his back, head upright. He was the very picture of responsible authority. 

"Tezuka, are you sure you want to do this?" asked Ryuzaki sensei worriedly. "Yes, it did go a little too far in the end, but they were only joking after all."

Tezuka looked straight ahead. He hasn't really forgiven her for that stupid 'ass' crack on Saturday. "It would be educational for the regulars. And it would also help train them into better players," He said emotionlessly. Unseen by anyone, he clenched his fist just a fraction harder for just an instant. Then, Tezuka continued to wait in silence.  

"Well, yes… I suppose so," the coach studied her tall unmoving captain for a moment. "All right, all right, you can go ahead with your plans." She capitulated with a sigh. "Stubborn boys… The next eight Sundays, is it?"

"Yes. Thank you, sensei." 

Tezuka turned about and strode out of the room. He stopped by the hallway window overlooking the empty courts, sunlight glinting off the sides of his glasses. His lips pressed together thinly. _Yes. They will learn._

***

It was the first tennis practice after that fateful Saturday tennis match and a sense of impending doom hovered over the Regulars. Even Fuji's smile was a little weak, and Inui's Super Deluxe High Performance Juice was almost drinkable. 

Momoshiro jogged up to Oishi, "Eh, Oishi-senpai. What do you think buchou is going to do to us for last Saturday?"

Oishi absently adjusted his racket grip, taking time to think about his answer. Around them, the rest of the regulars had heard Momoshiro, and were all waiting with bated breath to hear his answer. 

"I think…" Oishi started, his voice trailing uncertainly.

"Yes? Come _on_, Oishi-senpai! Don't make us suffer like this!" Momoshiro pleaded. 

"Shut up and let fuku-buchou speak!" Kaido growled from his corner where he had been doing warm-up stretches. 

Momoshiro shot an indignant look at Kaido, but managed to keep his peace. He fidgeted impatiently as Oishi turned to look at the building where Ryuzaki sensei and Tezuka were currently in. Finally, the vice captain broke his silence and said softly. "I think we should hope that Tezuka decides to just give us laps as punishment." 

"Laps again?" Momoshiro moaned. "But we just ran 100 laps last Friday!"

Eiji's face fell. "Nyah! My new shoes are getting all worn out with all that running! Still," he brightened slightly. "Anything's better than Inui Juice." 

Inui adjusted his glasses and coughed lightly. "Ahem. My juice is supposed to make you stronger. But, more to the point," he flipped through his notebook. "Do you realise that Tezuka has never assigned anything else but running as a punishment? It's a 99% probability that we would be running laps for the rest of our practices, at least until we third-years graduate." 

Momoshiro paled. "But, but that's at least 3 months away!"

"Yes, but considering that nearly all the teams in the prefecture showed up last Saturday, I think it's actually quite a mild punishment." 

"Oh. Yeah, I guess you have a point," Momoshiro admitted. Ryouma simply lowered his cap and sighed under his breath.  

"Buchou's here," hissed Kaido.

The Regulars hastily straightened and stood at attention. "Buchou!" They chorused guiltily, sneaking looks at the tall imposing captain. 

There was no perceptible change in Tezuka's attention. "First years, racket swinging practice in court A! Second-years, volley practices in courts B and C! Regulars, assemble in front!" 

Everyone moved to obey. Within seconds, the regulars were assembled in front of Tezuka. 

Tezuka folded his arms in front of his chest and began without preamble. "I have spoken to Ryuzaki-sensei about what happened last Saturday, and she has agreed to leave everything to my discretion. I do not intend to allow this '_thing'_,"  His voice managed to impart utter contempt to the word. Quite a few regulars flinched in response. "To interrupt practice any further than it already has." 

"So, the original instructions, for Regulars to stay back an hour after practice to coach non-regulars will stand. In addition, I expect all of you to report in front of the school, at 9am on Sunday, for the next eight weeks. For this coming Sunday, be sure to wear your running shoes. End of announcement. Any questions?" Cold eyes swept across each and every face. There were no takers. 

"Fine. Begin practice!" 

The week seemed to crawl by as the regulars speculated endlessly about the horror that was awaiting them on Sunday. 

"Bet you it's another intense training camp," groaned Eiji, slumping beside Fuji in exhaustion at the end of the last practice for the week. Fuji handed a towel to Eiji sympathetically. "Well," he smiled. "We've survived those before, haven't we?"

"But, er…" Kawamura interrupted apologetically. "Tezuka said we don't have to bring our rackets along, so it can't be training practice." 

Momoshiro flung himself on the floor, panting. "Oi Ochibi! Bring me my water bottle while you're there!" He turned his head to his senpais. "Neh, Taka-senpai, are you sure about that?" He asked a little sceptically. "I can't imagine buchou giving us any non-tennis-related punishment at all."

Fuji smiled. "I guess we will all find out tomorrow, won't we?" 

***

The next day dawned, and all the regulars reported bright and early at the arranged meeting point. 

"Nyah, is Tezuka late?"

"No, Eiji, we're early."

"Ah, buchou's here! Buchou!"

Tezuka walked up, wearing a blue polo shirt and slacks. "Nn. Is everyone here?" He asked Oishi.

"Yes." Oishi reported.   
  


"Nn. Let's go!" Tezuka turned and made for the bus stop. 

Tezuka made them get off the bus in the heart of the city, just in front of a cinema. 

"Eh? What are we doing here?" Momoshiro looked around in surprise. "Is there a tennis court, or a track somewhere here?"

Ryouma blinked. "Buchou, I thought we were going running?"

Tezuka's eyes flickered towards the young boy and back. "Since you all wanted a date with me so badly, I thought I'd fulfil your hopes." He said expressionlessly.

"REALLY?!" The regulars replied in shock. 

"Nyah!" Eiji glomped Tezuka happily. "I knew you wouldn't be so mean to make us practice during a _Sunday_! Hey, what movie are we watching?"

"The 4 and a half hour extended version of 'The Battle of Sekigahara'."

"THE WHAT?"

Tezuka's glasses glinted in the morning light. "I thought the underlying lessons of loyalty and betrayal would be very educational." 

"Oh." Everyone's faces fell. 

"Let's go. I already bought tickets."

Soon, the regulars were seated in the air-conditioned theatre. Momoshiro and Ryouma were snoring within seconds of the opening, while the rest of the regulars struggled to stay awake. Only Tezuka, Fuji and Kaido managed to watch the long historical epic in its entirety. 

They walked out of the theatre four and a half hours later, most of them yawning and stretching as Tezuka led them into a fast food restaurant. After everyone had finished eating, he began distributing sheets of paper and pens. 

"What's this?"

"A 100 question quiz on the movie you just watched. You will have to run 2 laps around this shopping mall for every wrong answer. You have 45 minutes to complete this quiz," Tezuka looked down at his watch. "Starting now." 

"Eh?"

"A _quiz_?"

"Che, I didn't even get to eat popcorn at the movie."

Tezuka raised his voice slightly over the grumbling. "You may begin." 

The regulars bent over their quiz. Soon, another wave of soft grumbling can be heard. 

"Nyah… this is _hard_!" 

"When was Ieyasu appointed shougun? How should I know? I slept through the whole thing!" 

"Eh, Fuji, do you know how many daimyos there were in 1615?"

In the end, Kaido was the only person who managed a perfect score. He and Tezuka wound up eating strawberry parfaits as the rest of the Seigaku regulars ran around the mall for the next two hours. 

"Momo-senpai? Dates with the buchou are _scary_." 

***

The next Sunday came. 

This time, Tezuka brought them to a videogame arcade. Momoshiro and Eiji crowed happily. "Now this is more like it! Street Fighter, here I come! Let me at them!" 

Tezuka cleared his throat. "We will be playing this game behind me, tournament style. Losers have to run twenty laps around the mall." He moved away. 

"PRETTY MAGICAL MAKE-UP SAMMI SOLDIERS VS KAWAII SWEET SOCERERS OF TOYOTA?!"

"Try fighting for Love, Truth and Justice for once," advised Tezuka dryly. "I'd pay particular attention to the Truth part, if I were you." 

To everyone's surprise, a blushing Momoshiro won the tournament at the end of the day. Tezuka gave him a Pretty Magical Make-up Sammi Soldier Wand and a box of muscle ointment. 

The rest of the regulars ran. 

***

The third Sunday was spent on an eight hour trek up a mountain. There were no casualties, except for a freak accident involving Kaido, a length of string, a puppy and two cans of Ponta. No small animal was hurt in the process, although Ryouma and Momoshiro did fall into a stream on the way back and had to go back half-naked as neither of them brought spare shirts. 

***

Another Sunday, another date with Tezuka. 

By this time, the regulars were already learning not to take their 'date' locations at face value. Which was why there was a distinct lack of excitement when Tezuka led them to a karaoke place on the fourth Sunday.  

The regulars looked around suspiciously. "What do you think he's going to make us do?" Inui murmured quietly to Fuji, eyes darting around the brightly painted room. Fuji's smile had faltered. "Tezuka and karaoke? I have no idea…"

Tezuka stopped in front of the entrance and faced the regulars. "Today, we would be spending out date with some other people. I expect you all to behave politely and with respect to your elders. People who don't…" Tezuka trailed off threateningly.

The rest of the regulars answered resignedly. "Run twenty laps." 

Tezuka nodded curtly and opened the door. A group of about 15 old men and women smiled at the young boys. "Kunimitsu-kun! Thank you for inviting us over for karaoke!" 

"You're welcome, Mrs Tamaguchi. Everyone, these are my team mates from Seigaku."

"Come in, come in!"

"Oh, what _lovely_ boys!"  

"Hirumi-san! Behave yourself!"

"Why? I'm old, not dead!"

Twenty minutes later, a harassed Kaido and Momoshiro cornered Inui at the quieter end of the room. "Who are these people, Inui-senpai?" Kaido asked hoarsely. "They keep asking me to sing!" 

"That's nothing! Those two old obaa-san keeps petting me on my head!" Momoshiro gritted through his teeth. "My head!"

Inui looked sternly at his two kouhai. "Behave yourself," he admonished. "These are people from the Tokyo Police Pensioners and Widows Association." 

"_The __Tokyo__ Police Pensioners and Widows Association_?!" 

"One of the older ladies told me that the gentlemen are mostly retired policemen, while the women are widows of policemen killed in the course of duty. They set up this association to help them socialise a little outside their usual circles. Tezuka usually goes with his grandfather to attend their monthly function." 

Kaido faltered. "All these people…"

Momoshiro looked silently back at the group of happy, singing pensioners, a soft light coming into his eyes. Then, he smiled. "Come on, Kaido. Let's go entertain the obaa-sans and the oji-sans!" Raising his voice a little, he walked towards a tiny old lady and a bigger grin grew on his face, "Neh, obaa-san, want to sing a love duet with me? I can sing 'Okinawa Nights' or 'Love Me, Love Me, Sakura Baby'!"

Kaido looked up at Inui, "Sorry, senpai," he muttered, before returning back to the group to refill the glass for the singing old folk. 

Inui adjusted his glasses, and walked back to resume his earlier conversation with one of the elderly men. "So, oji-san, you were saying that you're interested in health drinks…?"

Three hours later, the boys bid a rowdy farewell to the group of pensioners. As they watched them walk down the street, Eiji turned to Fuji, "Neh, Fuji! You were talking to that oji-san the whole time! What were you two talking about?"

Fuji smiled sweetly. "Oh, the old police inspector was just teaching me some of the holds the police use to restrain criminals. It seemed like a really useful thing to learn."

The rest of regulars shifted a little further away from the smiling tensai. Eiji shuddered. "Fuji! You're being all scary and evil again!"  
  


***

Tezuka brought them fishing at his second-favourite fishing spot the next Sunday. 

Momoshiro and Kaido managed to get into a fight within the first five minutes over who's got the better casting technique and scared away most of the fish. 

Inui found some interesting botanical samples that he thought might make good ingredients for his new, experimental Inui Juice that he would call Super Enhanced HydroSludge La Mer. Apart from being really good for strengthening the body; he also suspected that the concoction would have great beautification properties as well.  

Eiji and Oishi caught a frog and a boot respectively. Kawamura shocked everyone by landing a 9 pound salmon. Fuji helped him net it. 

Momoshiro fell into the water. Again.

Tezuka made them run all the way home.

***

The sixth Sunday was spent at the amusement park, where the boys practiced their aim and their hand-eye coordination at the game stores. Losers got a ride on the stomach-churning roller-coaster; multiple losers got multiple rides. Quite a few of the regulars lost deliberately at the end. 

"Neh, buchou, can I get cotton candy? After all, I did win," Ryouma smirked, clutching a cute plushie that resembled Karupin under his arm. 

"Nn. And here's a balloon for you as well." 

"Thank you. Should we wait for Fuji-senpai, Oishi-senpai and Eiji-senpai?"

"Nn. I want to drop off the extra toys that you guys won at the children's hospital."

Tezuka and Ryouma walked on, leaving a green-faced Momoshiro, Kaido, Kawamura, and Inui in their wake. 

***

It was raining very heavily that seventh Sunday, so Tezuka decided to call off the date. 

"Nyah, really? We don't have to go out today?" Eiji asked wide-eyed. 

Tezuka cast an evaluating glance up at the dark skies. A flash of opportune lightning lit the sky in a dramatic, well-timed split-second. "Nn. No, it's not safe to go out in weather like this. You can all go back now." Tezuka pulled his wind-breaker close and walked away under a black umbrella.

The regulars stared at Tezuka's disappearing back in shock. After a while, Momoshiro scratched his head and suggested. "Well, since there's no date today, and we're all outside anyway… Why don't we go for a burger and fries?"

The rest of the regulars agreed half-heartedly. 

Soon, they found themselves more or less alone in the burger shop, with trays of food in front of them. Eiji picked at his food, the corners of his mouth turned down. "Nyah, I'm bored. I want to go out… How come we can't go out with Tezuka just because it's raining." He pouted. 

Oishi smiled weakly, and tried to defend his best friend. "Well, it _is_ raining very hard… Tezuka probably had planned some outdoor activity for today, so it had to be cancelled…" 

Kawamura nodded. "It does feel strange not being out with Tezuka on a Sunday." He said softly.   
  


Momoshiro swallowed the last of his burger manfully and grinned, "I liked the karaoke date the best! Those old geezers rock!" 

"Really? I thought you'd like the video arcade date the best… Neh, what did you do with your Pretty Magical Make-up Sammi Soldier Wand anyway, Momo-senpai?" Ryouma asked with evil smirk. Momoshiro blushed. "I won by accident! By accident, okay!" 

Kaido hissed softly. "I liked the movie."

"Yeah, and you're probably the only one who does!" 

"The fishing date was fun… And the running was all right, too. At least we got to see a bit of scenery while we ran…" Kawamura volunteered. 

"Yes, I got _yii_ materials for my new Inui Juice on that date," agreed Inui with a sinister smile. "What about you, Ryouma?"

Ryouma thought for a bit. "I like the amusement park date. Buchou bought me candy floss and a balloon. And I won a Karupin stuffed toy too," he pointed out with a satisfied grin. 

Eiji bounced up and down in his seat happily. "I like the amusement park one too! Oishi liked that one best too, don't you? He won for me another giant size teddy bear that day!" He turned to Fuji, "Neh, Fuji! Which date did you like most?"

Fuji smiled, his face a pleasant unreadable mask. "Oh, they were all quite good," he said noncommittally. "I guess I don't really have a favourite." 

"Really? Oh. Well, it's a bit sad to think that we only have one more date to go…"

"Has it been seven weeks already? Seemed shorter, for some reason," commented Momoshiro as he took a gulp of his coke. 

"I think it's really nice of Tezuka to think up all these dates for us..." said Kawamura. 

"WHAT? Are you crazy, Taka-san? We were _tortured_!" Eiji complained with a whine. "All that running – well, except for the amusement park one. That's still my favourite date." 

  
"Hmm…I think I agree with Taka-san. And all of this must have cost Tezuka quite a bit. I mean movies, and arcade games, and karaoke, and meals for all nine of us don't come cheap, you know," Oishi pointed out. 

Kaido offered. "Maybe we can do something in return for Tezuka buchou next Saturday instead," he said in his low raspy voice.

The regulars turned to stare at the bandana boy. "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA, KAIDO!" Eiji glomped his kouhai happily. A small blush covered Kaido's cheeks at Eiji's praise, even as he winced in embarrassment. 

Oishi smiled. "Eiji is right. It is a really good idea, Kaido-kun. Everyone, what do you think we should do for Tezuka?" 

Momoshiro waved his hand. "We should do something really good! Show buchou what a real date is like!"

"Neh, Momo-senpai. How do you know what a real date is like? After all, you've only been on one date with Tachibana's younger sister," Ryouma pointed out innocently. 

Momoshiro blushed furiously. "That wasn't a date! And you don't have to go on dates to know that they shouldn't entail hard exercise!" 

"Hard exercise?" Ryouma blinked, his long lashes fluttering. "What kind of hard exercise?"  
  


"I mean --- ARGH!" Momoshiro pounced onto Ryouma and got the younger boy in a headlock. 

"Ow, ow! Senpai, stop it! It hurts!" 

"Then shut up about dates already!"

"Che. Mada mada dane." 

Oishi sweatdropped. He turned to the rest of the regulars. "Does anyone else have any ideas?" 

Inui frowned. "Well, we've actually covered quite a lot of the usual dating options already with Tezuka… It doesn't leave us much to work with." 

Kawamura suggested timidly, "Ano… What about a picnic?" 

The regulars turned to look at Kawamura. Kawamura blushed. 

"Taka-san, you are a genius," pronounced Eiji solemnly. Oishi smiled as he pulled out his notebook organiser. "That's a great idea! Come on, everyone. Let's see what needs to be done… Fuji, can you be in charge of telling Tezuka that we are taking care of the eighth date please? And the food… Ah, Taka-san and Kaido, could you two take care of that…"

The regulars spent the rest of the morning happily planning their perfect group date with Tezuka.

***


	13. Aftermath 2

**The Rumour**

The Aftermath Part 2 (Wherein Some Yaoi, Sweetness and Fluff Occurs)

Fuji waited until everyone else has gone back home, leaving just him and Tezuka alone after practice. The regulars had put him in charge of telling Tezuka of the change in plans for this coming Sunday. (His offer to prepare food for the picnic had, strangely enough, been rejected by everyone. Fuji had been disappointed. He would have loved to see the looks on his team mates' faces when they tried his famous mustard sandwiches with wasabi salad.)

Still, it wasn't a bad deal, as far as Fuji was concerned. So he won't see his team mates suffer. Getting this chance to talk to Tezuka was just as good. This meant that he had yet another opportunity to play with Tezuka. Under that smiling visage, Fuji could feel his own adrenaline level pump up a notch at the thought.

_Tezuka.___

Fuji walked into the club room. 

As he'd planned, Tezuka was indeed alone in the club room. Seated at the bench, the Seigaku captain was busy packing his tennis gear into his bag. Fuji padded over on silent feet to stand before his captain. Tezuka looked up at him expressionlessly for a brief moment, then turned back to his packing without a word. Dismissing him. Again. The familiar irritation streaked through Fuji and was throttled with some effort. 

"Tezuka," said Fuji, smiling as if nothing had happened. "The regulars would like to invite you to a date on Sunday." 

Tezuka looked up. "On Sunday?" He frowned. 

"Yes, I know buchou's already have plans for yet another one of your punishment dates, but the Regulars and I would like to show you our appreciation for your thoughtfulness for the past seven dates," explained Fuji sweetly as he moved to stand right in front of Tezuka. 

Tezuka thought for a moment, and finally grunted a wordless assent. He turned back to his packing, and zipped his bag close. He was about to get up from his seat when he realised that Fuji was still standing in front. "Was there anything else?" He asked coolly. 

Fuji's smile deepened as he shifted a little closer to Tezuka, forcing the other boy to look up at his face. "I was wondering… Am I going to get any special punishment for my part in the whole date match thing? After all, I am the mastermind behind it all, do I get… a special date of my own?" Fuji bent lower as he spoke, until his last words were practically whispered against Tezuka's cheek. 

"Fuji…" Tezuka said in warning. 

"What?" Fuji asked, still smiling. Above the smile however, sharp blue eyes were alert. He shifted back a little, to better see Tezuka's face. 

"Why are you doing this?" He asked Fuji seriously, brown eyes crinkling slightly in displeasure behind his glasses. 

Fuji laughed lightly. "I thought you already knew… I just like to see people suffer, remember?" 

Tezuka simply _looked_ at Fuji.  

 "We~ll…" Fuji leaned forward again, propping his hands on the wall just behind Tezuka. "So maybe I fibbed. I only like to see _you_ suffer," he whispered in suppressed delight, breath puffing out onto Tezuka's skin.  

Tezuka caught Fuji's face with his hands, and stared at the smiling prodigy. He studied the other boy's face intently, as if memorising it. Fuji's smile began to fade under the onslaught of Tezuka's intent eyes. He became intensely conscious of Tezuka's hands cupping his hand, the faint roughness of tennis-worn calluses, the warmth of his palms, and the fact that his pulse was racing under the soft pressure of Tezuka's fingers. He was hyper-aware of their closeness, the heat radiating out from their bodies. 

Fuji's focus narrowed down to Tezuka's lips, soft, narrow… He felt himself move closer and closer, until only a breath separated their lips. "Tezuka," he breathed. "I'm going to kiss you if you don't stop me now." 

Brown eyes blinked. And Fuji moved that final, necessary inch closer and kissed him. 

Tezuka tasted of warmth, of sunlight. He thrust his tongue between the soft unresisting lips, into the soft warm cavern of Tezuka's mouth. Tongues tangled as Fuji pressed harder. Somewhere along the line, his hands had dropped around Tezuka, pulling their bodies closer. Fuji found himself straddled across Tezuka's lap, Tezuka's arms clasped loosely around his own body. 

It was only when he bumped into Tezuka's glasses again for the third time when Fuji finally pulled away reluctantly. He panted softly, trying to catch his breath. They stared at each other wordlessly, stunned by the violence of their first kiss. Fuji brushed his thumb across Tezuka's slightly bruised lips, studied that soft, dreamy look in Tezuka's eyes and a small hopeless laugh bubbled up Fuji's throat. "So this is what it takes, to make you finally notice me," he murmured, breath blowing lightly on Tezuka's face.  

Tezuka growled softly in his throat and pulled Fuji closer. 

***

Fuji dragged Tezuka along with him happily as the boys climbed up the stairs to the hill-side park. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the grass was a verdant green, and there was a strong, soft breeze blowing. 

They reached the top of the hill, and were greeted by a chorus of greetings. 

"Buchou!" 

"Tezuka-buchou!"

"Fuji! Over here!" 

Smiling, Tezuka and Fuji walked hand in hand over to the rest of their team mates. 


End file.
